Beast Wars: The War beyond Time and Space
by SlipknotGhidorah
Summary: Soundwave and his family crash land into the Beast Wars. Section one of this timeline focuses on the Beast Wars. Section two will focus on G1. This is part two of my Dimensional Warp series.
1. Beginning of the Beast Wars

_Beast Wars:_

_The War beyond Space and Time_

_4 Million Years ago (or later…hard to tell…we'll say late Pliocene time period.)_

Soundwave, Berserk, Ravage, Pulse, Laserbeak, and Buzzsaw were ejected out of the dimensional portal and found themselves free-falling to Earth. The G-force pressing on their bodies was too much for them as they blacked out as they crash-landed to the planet.

Soundwave was unconscious as his body was in Nighthawk mode as it went on a straight course to Africa, the sky growing lighter and lighter as he headed towards the ground. A hard bump woke up Soundwave as his body was ricocheting on the rocks, ground, and mountains as his body got pounded with dents and dust. Disoriented by the crash landing, he didn't notice when he skidded to a stop in the dirt, as the ground, rocks, sky, clouds, and grasses spun around his vision. Exhausted, he fell into stasis as his vision clouded.

He woke up days later, puzzled at the area around him. Soundwave tried to remember what happened, before he screamed in pain. Error signs overloaded his visor as he got a report of what was damaged to his systems. He tried to move, but a warning flashed on his visor. Soundwave suffered a lot of damage, but his T-Cog was one of the many internal damages done to his systems. His armor was heavily damaged, some of his lights were shattered, and he felt some contorted limbs inside him. He sighed, then decided to focus on his dark matter powers to try to heal himself. It was worth a shot in the dark; it couldn't be worse than the state that he was in now. Soundwave focused on his dark matter powers, but he stopped and hissed at the pain from his systems. Dark matter was wrecking some havoc on his systems with all of his internal damage.

Soundwave stopped and thought for a moment; sure the dark matter hypothesis of healing himself would possibly put him in stasis lock, but he would go offline if he didn't receive medical attention soon. While he was thinking, some energy fields began to creep through his dents and cracks in his armor, causing Soundwave to scream in pain when it started to do internal damage. _No time to think it over…need to try to use dark matter to heal self_ thought Soundwave as he began focusing on his powers again. Dark matter and dark energy seeped out of his body and began repairing his systems. His armor healed, and he managed to heal most of his internal damage, but he felt weak when he tried to do more work. Apparently, with his systems heavily damaged and his usage of his dark powers, it took a toll on his body, leaving him drained. _I'll heal my T-Cog later_ thought Soundwave as he relaxed and allowed his glassy armor to absorb the sun's light.

A loud boom caught Soundwave's attention as he detected two comets streaking across the sky and landing in two different places. Curious, he tried to levitate, but was unable to due to low energy. Sending out his tentacles, he dragged himself across the grassland to one of the two impact zones. If someone was watching the downed transformer, the site would have been funny as Soundwave's tentacles were spread all over the place as he tried to drag himself across the ground. He managed to make a little headway at a time as he moved across the grass; its blades slightly tickling his tentacles and his sensitive armor.

It took him over an hour to make it to the mountains in the distance from his crash site when a bright explosion caught his attention. Intrigued at what was going on, Soundwave moved himself in the direction of the blast. How he wished that he had his old deployer, Laserbeak, so he could see what was going on up ahead. He could understand where he was and what was going on up ahead. Before he could get much further, the blasts ahead of him stopped, and silence was heard in the area.

After a little decision, he decided to head for where he wanted to originally go to; the crash site to his right. After much turning, he headed for his first choice of a destination. It took him a few hours to cover the distance, but he heard a loud explosion coming from a mountain. His tentacles took notice of the high energon levels within the destroyed mountain. _Energon crystals…and a high quality too! I wish that we found crystals like that back home_ thought Soundwave as he changed his direction yet again and headed for the mountain.

It took him hours for Soundwave to make it to the mountain and to crawl up to the slopes. He managed to make it to the crystals before dawn, and the view was spectacular from his position. He sent out a few tentacles to harvest some of the energy for himself; his tentacles sucking up the energon much on how someone uses a straw to drink a milkshake. It wasn't long before he noticed a few animals walking up the mountain; the herd consisting of a Tyrannosaurus, a pterosaur, a tarantula, a wasp, and a scorpion. Deciding to stay out of sight, Soundwave moved himself until he was hanging from the ceiling of the overhang of the mountain. He quickly noticed that a gorilla, a rhino, a rat, a cheetah, and a velociraptor were also entering the energon crystal mountain along with the first herd.

Soundwave managed to pick up the conversation between the two groups as the Tyrannosaurus was stating on how he was chased across the galaxy to that planet, and the gorilla gave a small rebuttal. The two groups attacked each other, with the cheetah fighting the wasp, the Tyrannosaurus fighting the gorilla, the rhino fighting the pterosaur, the rat fighting the tarantula, and the raptor fighting the scorpion. He watched silently as the Tyrannosaurus transformed then fired his missiles at the gorilla, but the raptor sent the missile flying towards the crystal. Soundwave panicked, and then began moving to get out of the mountain. His energon levels were too low to fly, so he tried crawling fast, but the mountain exploded and sent him flying across the sky before he rammed into a cliff before he free-fell to the ground below. Seekers were flying around his helm as he lay there, dazed and confused. Stasis overcame him as he fell into recharge that day.


	2. Mystery of Stonehenge and the Spacecraft

_Sorry that it took so long to post this story. In the first chapter, I forgot to add the disclaimer. Here it its: I do not own Transformers._

Over a month has passed since the explosion, and Soundwave was scouting for energon again. He still had to move via his tentacles, but this allowed him to search his surroundings. He found a few small energon clusters on which he fed on, but they were tiny, just enough to keep him from starving to death. His solar-absorbing armor helped in keeping him online as he crawled through the canyons of prehistoric Earth.

It wasn't very long until he came across that scorpion again, this time with a large weapon. "Megatron will be most pleased with this Mega Cannon, but only if I can ever get it out of this rock" said the scorpion as he transformed. _So, he's a Decepticon…_ thought Soundwave as he watched the cheetah approach the scorpion. He watched the cheetah corner the scorpion, as he held his blaster in front of him. He also watched the tarantula and scorpion gang up on the cat and put some major damage on him. Still, Soundwave remained out of the battle as he saw the two bugs retreat as the gorilla came flying in. "Cheetor! No!" exclaimed the gorilla as he saw the cat nearly offline. The gorilla turned, and saw some of Soundwave's tentacles, before the Nighthawk retreated from the area. _What is that thing? I'll find out from Cheetor when I get back to base_ thought Optimus as he picked up Cheetor and flew away.

Hours passed, and Soundwave managed to make it to the Predacon warship. He detected a number of Predacons placing the Mega Cannon high up on a platform on a rock. He watched the Predacons position it as he watched from a distance. He also took note of Cheetor prowling close to the ship, but to only be captured by Tarantulas. More time passed, before Rattrap came by and went underground as well. Minutes passed, before Cheetor and Rattrap emerged from the hole and made it back to Maximal base. Soundwave decided to follow them; all of the volcanic smog wasn't good for his solar-panel armor.

Time passed, and Soundwave managed to find a large energon vein. Well, it was more than a vein; more like a canyon full of energon. His tentacles were absorbing some of the energon when lightning struck above. _Looks like a storm_ thought Soundwave as he absorbed more energon. A few cycles passed, and he noticed Cheetor running along the desert. The cat leapt above the canyon, and passed to the other side. _"Energon levels rising. Energy level at 43%"_ his systems scan read. "More than enough to keep me airborne" said Soundwave as his flight systems kicked in and he flew after Cheetor.

When he got to the next survey post, he detected energy signatures of some kind. Curious, he touched the survey post, and next thing that Soundwave knew, he was inside the Predacon base. _Ow, that hurt. Now, where am I? How did I wind up in such a small space? _Wondered Soundwave as he found himself in the main control room of the Predacon base. He let his tentacles get out, and wandered around the ship's computers. A few other tentacles went up to the ceiling, and he tapped on the walls. They seemed thin enough to allow Soundwave to cut through them, so he began getting busy with his tentacles. While he was doing that, his other tentacles hacked into the Predacon computer systems, where he began downloading important information.

While Soundwave was downloading information, Cheetor was racing through the Darkside, as he was escaping Waspinator and Scorponok. He managed to download the information about the connecting energon veins, and was going to get back to the teleporter when he ran into an unexpected obstacle: Soundwave. "Aw, how did this thing get here?" said Cheetor as he saw the large spacecraft within the Darkside. "Look Megatron, it's the cat-bot" cawed Terrorsaur as he pointed to the Maximal. "Good work, Terrorsaur" said Megatron as he approached Cheetor. The Predacons stopped when they noticed that the cat's path was blocked by Soundwave, and Megatron said "Maximal, how did that thing get there?" "I don't know; I found it there" said Cheetor. A tentacle emerged from Soundwave and looked at the three. The tentacle got close to Cheetor, then it turned its attention to Terrorsaur, then Megatron. "Hmmm…it looks as if this thing has high intelligence. Yes, yes, this thing is not of Predacon design, and it's not one of your creations, Maximal?" said the Tyrannosaurus. "No, I've never seen it before" said Cheetor as Megatron looked up at the tentacle. "Yes, yes, it looks as if this machine is from a highly developed alien civilization…sent to me for me to utilize and rule the universe" said Megatron.

A loud rumbling caught their attention as the roof of the Darkside was lifted up by tentacles as Soundwave levitated upwards along with… "Is that a bomb?" said Cheetor in shock as it spotted the bomb in the tentacles of the being. The UFO began floating higher and higher, until it was up in the sky as it flew off, before a loud explosion caught their attention. A few seconds later, the Darkside's roof fell down from the sky and landed on the ship, damaging it more than before. Megatron shouted at the sky for having his ship ruined, allowing Cheetor to make his escape and hopped on the teleporter. "He's getting away" cawed Terrorsaur as Megatron roared in anger, before he fired at Cheetor. The cat teleported away at the last second, causing the warlord to destroy his computer.

Back at base, Cheetor was explaining his adventure, and Optimus wasn't happy that he went alone. "There I was, running down the corridor when I ran into this thing" said Cheetor "I don't know what it was, but it was huge, and looked like some sort of spacecraft." "Spacecraft you said?" said Optimus. "Yes it was, boss-bot. It was triangular, had glassy armor, and three lights on its underside. There were also lots of tentacles coming out of this spacecraft. Neither I nor the Predacons knew what it was, but Megatron wanted to use it to win the Beast Wars. What happened next was strange; the spacecraft managed to cut open the roof of the Darkside and removed it so it could escape. It also had a Maximal bomb in its tentacles, but it flew away before it detonated. I don't know if that thing was destroyed in the explosion" said Cheetor. "Perhaps it is best if that thing was destroyed, otherwise who knows what would happen if it fell into the wrong servos" said Dinobot. "I don't know; something tells me that this may not be the last that we see of this spacecraft. As for what happened today, Cheetor, if you ever do something like this again, I'll have your tail in a sling" said Optimus. "Ok, I'll never do it again…until the next time" said Cheetor before he ran off. Rhinox and Rattrap laughed, before Optimus began laughing as well, leaving Dinobot to walk off.

The next day, the Maximals were investigating the circle of stones that they found over a month ago. "This isn't a natural stone formation. Somebody, somehow, built this thing" said Rhinox as Optimus Primal was scanning the area. "Yeah, well, excuse my ever message, but I thought that this planet was uninhabited" said Rattrap. "Something else is odd…I'm getting an energon reading from under this pile of rocks" said Optimus. "And it looks as if we're not the only ones interested in the energon" said Cheetor as he spotted Soundwave come flying in and began investigating the circle of stones with its tentacles. "I say that we leave this place and let the spooky spacecraft finish doing whatever it wants…this place is alternating my circuits" said Rattrap. "I don't think that thing wants to harm us. It just seems as curious as us about this place…the energon doesn't fit with this planet's geology. Hard to believe that it formed naturally" said Rhinox as Dinobot went closer to the pile of rocks. A tentacle moved closer to Dinobot, before the dinosaur swatted the tentacle away. "I still don't like it myself, but we should remove the energon before the Predacons do" said Dinobot.

Loud footsteps were heard before Megatron appeared and said "Ah, Dinobot. That Predacon chip still ticking inside you. I think that we will take the energon crystals as for that mysterious spacecraft. No too small an energon crystal is left behind, and all mysterious alien technology is not too unimportant for us, I always say." Waspinator then flew in, with Terrorsaur. Soundwave backed away, and watched the Maximals and Predacons fight each other. They blasted each other with their weapons, before Terrorsaur blasted the rock pile with his guns, igniting the crystals. "Terrorsaur, you fool! You unleashed the crystal's energy! It is useless to us now. Back to base" commanded Megatron as the Predacons retreated. Soundwave also watched the Maximals transform back to beast mode as they (along with him) prepared for energon shock waves, but he saw the stones glow before it sent a beam of light into deep space. Soundwave became curious again as he sent out his tentacles to investigate the rocks again as Rhinox popped out of his hiding place and said "Just like I said; those stones aren't natural."

"What in the galaxy was that?" asked Cheetor as Rhinox looked at the cat and said "It looked like a signal…but to who?" "Well, perhaps we'll learn the answer…someday" said Optimus Primal. Soundwave overheard them, and decided to investigate the standing stones more. _Who knows who built this formation, but I'll stay as long as it takes. There could be an ancient relic beneath this circle…or, I might be able to contact whoever built this. I might be able to contact Berserk and the others with it if I'm lucky enough, or at least find a way out of this world_ thought Soundwave as his tentacles scanned the rocks.

Hours passed by, and Soundwave was in stasis by the rocks when his scanners detected an incoming object. He shot out a few tentacles, and managed to find a pod coming down towards the standing stones. It floated in the center of the formation as Soundwave began scanning it. Whoever built it was certainly an advanced race, but…he also detected some ancient energy signatures coming from the pod. He was still scanning it when Optimus Primal and Dinobot arrived on the scene. "Yes, it looked as if somebody answered that signal, but who?" said Optimus before he got shot. Waspinator flew down, and Megatron walked up to the object, saying "Whatever this fascinating device is, we Predacons claim it as our own…and that other fascinating spacecraft as well" said Megatron as Soundwave thought _Seriously? You consider me to be an object that can be claimed? Primus, you are even more glitched in the processor than Airachnid at times._ "Megatron, terrorize" said Megatron as he transformed. "Dinobot, maximize" said Dinobot as he transformed. The two were about to battle when the pod began to glow. The pod send out shockwaves that overloaded Megatron's, Waspinator's, Dinobot's, Optimus', and Soundwave's systems, causing the five of them to go haywire. A beam of light shot out and vaporized Optimus, as Dinobot crashed down, saying "Optimus…" before he blacked out. The two Predacons crashed down as well, but Soundwave managed to hang on to his consciousness, as his systems read _Massive damage to systems. Stasis lock imminent._ Focusing on his dark matter powers again, dark clouds came out of Soundwave to heal him.

It took time, but by the time that the mists receded, the Predacons and Dinobot were already gone. _Energy down to 5%_ read Soundwave's scan as he landed on the ground. _OW! This is going to take time for me to replenish my power_ thought Soundwave as he shot out some tentacles to investigate the pod. He detected Optimus Primal's spark within the object, and tried to hack in the systems.

Optimus was inside the pod, and he felt as if something was trying to get in the pod. "Hello, who's there?" he said as the second entity didn't respond. He managed to contact Maximal base, and report that he was ok, but his body was being kept in a molecular state. "Anything else?" said Rhinox. "Yes, something else is trying to get in here, but I don't know what. It doesn't seem malicious. Rattrap, you're in charge. The Predacons are most likely to mount an attack. Optimus out" said Optimus. The second entity managed to penetrate the pod's walls, and part of it was inside the pod with him. "Hello, who's there?" he repeated again. Whatever the entity was, it was huge and powerful. It also seemed very wise, and also slightly sad.

Much later, the Maximals made it to the pod. "Hey, you! Get away from him!" announced Rattrap as he tried to shoot Soundwave's tentacles. Soundwave's tentacles retreated, as Rhinox said "I don't know if this thing's going to work, but it's ready as it'll ever be." "Ah, our pod. We'll take it from here, Maximals" said Megatron as he began firing at the group. "Rhinox, get Optimus out of that pod" said Rattrap as he fired back at the Predacons.

Soundwave dragged himself further and further away, before he detected a rise in energy. Some of his tentacles looked back to see the stones glow, before it released Optimus from the pod. The Predacons retreated, before Optimus Primal was reunited with his friends. The pod dissipated into nothing, and the stones remained silent again.

Optimus looked back at Soundwave and remained silent for a moment before he turned to the Maximals and said "Besides whoever sent the probe, we're dealing with another entity here. That spacecraft there also came to this planet, but it came from somewhere else. It was interested in the pod, and wanted to know who sent it. I also felt it looking into my spark while I was in the pod." "You mean that thing was in there besides you?" said Rattrap. "Yes, it was, but I think that it was more interested in the pod than me. I also learned something about that spacecraft…it has feelings" said Primal. "And you would know this by how?" asked Rattrap. "I felt its intelligence and power, but it also seemed a little bit sad, as if it lost something that was close to it…I can't describe it, but it did have feelings of some variety" said Optimus. "Just, who sent the probe and the spacecraft? Are they friends, enemies, or something more?" asked Dinobot. "I don't know, but I would like to find out the answer. As for the spacecraft, there is more to it than meets the eye" said Optimus.


	3. Where are they? Who are you?

_I do not own Transformers._

Days passed, and Soundwave was crawling along the tropical forest floor, with his tentacles out and investigating things. He has managed to absorb enough solar energy to fly for a short distance, but he didn't want to use up his flight energy now. No, he decided to conserve the little extra energy that he had for any unforeseen needed emergencies. It wasn't long before he noticed a large shadow on the forest floor, and his tentacles looked upward to find a large floating mountain in the sky. He tried to reach up to one of the rocks with his tentacles, but it was too far out of reach. After some debating, he decided to use his extra energy to fly up to the mountain.

His body levitated, and then soared up to the floating mass above him. He landed on one of the rocks on the mountain, and then crawled across the broken terrain, detecting the energy signatures that lay there. It was a special type of unstable raw energon, but this one was a special kind for increasing a mech's power. He absorbed a little into his systems, and ran a few internal scans. The energon's power made him stronger, but if he absorbed too much, stasis lock and energy drain was imminent. Deciding to hang around, Soundwave crawled along the mountainside, but he soon detected a red flying object. Terrorsaur had appeared, and was flying towards the mountain. Hiding on a rocky overhang in the upper reaches of the mountain, Soundwave observed the Predacon absorb the energy, before he flew off.

Hours passed, and Terrorsaur appeared again to absorb more power. Soon afterwards, he saw Optimus Primal and Rattrap appear as they flew towards the mountain. He watched Rattrap and Optimus follow Terrorsaur at a distance, and then watched the Maximal leader fight the pterosaur in a dogfight. Primal crashed down to the mountain, and Terrorsaur flew in for the kill, but saw that the pterosaur's energy drained and flew off to charge up. While Soundwave watched the dogfight, he also watched Rattrap fight Tarantulas. Soundwave recorded the hilarious battle between the two, and couldn't help but laugh silently whenever Tarantulas crashed into a rock, or when he fell down the mountain, hitting every rocky surface on the way down. _I've got to show this to the Autobots when I get back…they're going to laugh when they see this. I would love to see both Blackarachnia's and Airachnid's reactions once they see this video_ thought Soundwave as he recorded the battle.

Blasts caught his attention as he watched the crystals blowing up. _Scrap! The rat must have set detonation charges_ thought Soundwave as he took flight, but he was unable to escape the blast radius as the shockwaves sent him flying into a stone mountain's wall. He fell down to the rock floor, and then a large boulder fell on him. _OW! Scrap that hurt!_ Thought Soundwave as he tried to force the rock to get off his body. After much difficulty, he got the boulder off before he fell into stasis. It was going to take hours before he had enough solar energy in his system before he could do repairs.

More time passed, and Soundwave had enough energy to repair himself, but his energy levels weren't high enough to fly. He made use of crawling around the planet, and exploring its terrains. He was within an arctic terrain when he detected an incoming object within the Earth's atmosphere, and it crash landed far away from him. His fans whirred, before he began crawling towards the object. It took him hours for Soundwave to crawl over the icy terrain, but he managed to get close enough before an energy beam bounced off the moon and hit the object. He witnessed a scanner of some sort emerge from the pod, and scan all areas before identifying a tiger. He watched a tiger emerge from the pod, and run over to the other tiger. They both began nuzzling each other before they ran off. Deciding to get closer, Soundwave dragged his body closer before he sent his tentacles out to investigate the pod.

He soon discovered that it was a stasis pod used for keeping protoforms within it. He did some scanning to learn more about Maximal technology, and learned on how the pod can scan organic animal life forms. _Most unusual. These 'Maximals' have advance scanning technology for alt modes. What can be learned from here can be used for the Autobots and Decepticons…most logical if I upload information _thought Soundwave as he uploaded data from the protoform pod.

It wasn't long before Soundwave detected Terrorsaur and Waspinator flying in. Withdrawing his tentacles, Soundwave locked himself up in a defensive position in case the two tried to attack him. The Maximals soon arrived on the scene, and he saw Megatron appear. "The stasis pod is ours, Maximals, and I know your weaknesses, yes" said Megatron as he aimed the T-Rex head at two tigers. He threatened to destroy the two tigers unless the Maximals put down their arms, as the Maximals forced themselves to accept Megatron's victory. Megatron then went over to the pod to reprogram the supposed protoform inside it. _If he only knew that one of those two tigers is the protoform. I'm surprised on how this Megatron is as big as a fool as Starscream_ thought Soundwave as he watched the Predacons open the pod. He hid a laugh as he saw the Predacons' reactions to the empty pod as Megatron said "Where is the Maximal?" as one of the tigers said "Right here. Tigatron, maximize" as the tiger transformed into his robot mode.

The Maximals fired on the Predacons, as Megatron gave the order to retreat. Tigatron fired a missile at Megatron as the Predacon shouted "Blast it all!" Optimus then walked up to Tigatron and talked to the Maximal as Soundwave focused his audios on the conversation. He was surprised that Tigatron chose to stay in the wild, but he was willing to help out the Maximals. "Let the trails lead where they may, I will follow" said Tigatron as the other Maximals left. _Strange, Tigatron reminds me of Prowl from the last dimension. Tigatron seems like an unusual Maximal. I will monitor him and see what I can learn from this protoform. This war is different from the war in my world, but is intriguing nonetheless. I wonder of Autobots and Decepticons exist in this world_ thought Soundwave as he watched the two tigers leave.

Days passed by, before Soundwave had recovered enough strength to fly from his solar-powered cells. He flew around, and came across a few energon crystals. The crystals were unstable, but he absorbed them slowly so his systems could adjust. _"Systems charging…power at 14%…15%…16%"_ his scans read. A few hours passed by before he was at 100% power. _Finally, I can fly. Now, I can begin searching for my family_ thought Soundwave as he levitated, then began flying as he began scanning the ground below for the energy signatures of his sparkmate and his sparklings. A few months passed by, before he began reading some matching signatures. _"Berserk's spark signature found. Pulse's spark signature found. Laserbeak's spark signature found. Buzzsaw's spark signature found"_ read his scans as Soundwave took a look at the landmass below. It was an arctic landscape, covered with ice and glaciers as far as his optics could see. Soundwave descended to the ground below, and began his scan again. He could only find four matching spark signatures, but found a fifth spark signature. _ "Spark signature unknown. No matching spark signature found"_ read his scanners. Soundwave landed on the ice, and tried to pinpoint where the spark signatures were. It took him a few moments to realize that the spark signals were coming from below him, as he tried to look into the ice below. He could faintly make out five forms, but it was hard to make out their exact shapes. _Well, I found four of them. At least I know where they are, but where's Ravage?_ Thought Soundwave as he began scanning the area for his sparkling. The results came back negative, so Soundwave levitated and began flying around the area. The scans kept on coming back negative, so he tried and tried again. His energy readings were becoming depleted, so he left back to the familiar Maximal/Predacon territory that he was in for the last few months. _Ravage, wherever you are, I'll find you_ thought Soundwave as he flew away from the Antarctic.

"Ah, here's a new specimen" said Optimus as he looked at a green plant with two purple flowers "Dinobot, come on. You're supposed to be assisting me." "Of course, my lack of enthusiasm for a bunch of worthless weeds. We're targets out here, targets!" snarled Dinobot. Optimus sighed, then said "Dinobot, I signed on this mission as part of an exploration unit. Just because we bumped into a bunch of Predacons is no excuse to stop learning new things. And, it looks as if we're not alone in learning new things" said Optimus as he pointed to a tentacle that was looking at the same exact flower, but under a different rock. "Looks like that our mysterious spacecraft acquaintance is back" said Optimus. "Humph, while you're looking at plants, we should be devising battle strategies" snarled Dinobot. "Knowledge of the terrain can be an advantage in battle" said Optimus as he stroked the flower "You're a soldier, you should know that." "I doubt that this plant will be a turning point in the war" said Dinobot "If have it you must, then stand aside, I'll blast it out." Dinobot then tried to transform, but was stopped by Optimus. He then investigated the rock, and then pulled out a small stone by the boulder, which caused the boulder to fall down into the river below. "You see, it is possible to look for non-violent solutions first" said Optimus. "I see that you lost your battle edge, Optimus. There is nothing in the fight with Megatron that you can learn from this worthless weed" snarled Dinobot before he hissed at it and walked off.

The flower, on the other hand, looked offended, before it launched a spiky seed pod at Dinobot and attached itself to the back of his neck. "Get this thing off me! I can't reach it! Get it off!" yelled Dinobot in a frantic manner. Soundwave noted the whole event, and laughed on the inside of what he saw. _I take it that's what you get for insulting a plant_ thought Soundwave as he giggled on the inside. "Hold on, hold on" said Optimus Primal as he walked up to Dinobot and removed the seed from the back of Dinobot's neck. He laughed, then turned to Dinobot and said "Got you right in the one place you can't reach, didn't it?" before he dropped the seed. Within seconds, the plant sprouted, and Optimus said "You see? That's how it spreads its seeds. You've learned something." "Yes, from now on, I shoot my dinner salad before I eat it" said Dinobot as Soundwave's tentacle shook to indicate that Dinobot would never learn. Dinobot looked shocked, then said "It looks as if our mysterious spacecraft 'friend' has understood us" as he pointed with a claw at the tentacle. Optimus turned around, and then walked up to the tentacle as it lowered the camera to get a closer look at the gorilla Maximal. "You can understand us?" asked Optimus as the tentacle bobbed to indicate 'yes.' "Is it alright if we take your plant specimen? We need to study it while on the Axlon for further analysis" said Optimus as the tentacle bobbed, then moved so Optimus could collect it.

"How about you study this?" said Scorponok as he sprung out from behind a boulder and shot a cyber bee at Optimus. "Optimus, maximize" he said as he transformed, while Dinobot said "Dinobot, maximize" as the two entered battle. The cyber bee attached itself to Optimus, before the Maximal began aggressively shooting at Scorponok. Scorponok fell backwards, and then landed on a log, dislodging it and causing both the log and the Predacon to fall off a waterfall. "Optimus" said Dinobot before he picked him up and carried his leader back to base. Soundwave decided to follow the two; after all, he was interested in what the cyber bee was as well.

A tentacle hacked into the Axlon system as Soundwave listened to the conversation going on inside. Mostly, it involved how to attack the Predacons, but it also had the question of getting Optimus back to normal. The conversation went on for a while, before Optimus flew out of the base in a frenzied state. _Better go after him and make sure that he doesn't do anything stupid. This reminds me so much of the time when Megatron went power-crazy during his dark energon state_ thought Soundwave as he went after Primal.

He watched Primal (from a distance) as the Maximal attacked the Predacon base before he went inside it. Soundwave heard screams coming from the inside, before more Maximals showed up to fight the Predacons. It didn't take long before Optimus flew out in his frenzied state with the cyber bee removed. "Out of my way, space slag! Or risk your circuits destroyed" snarled Optimus as he fired at Soundwave. Soundwave shot out two tentacles, grabbing Optimus as the gorilla snarled. "Is this the best that you can do? I'll rip your spark out!" screamed Optimus. Dark mists seeped out of Soundwave, before they surrounded the gorilla. Darkness surrounded Primal, as Cheetor looked up and screamed "Big bot!" before Soundwave flew away from the battlefield. A loud explosion rocked the earth as the Predacon ship exploded, causing the Maximals to retreat.

Optimus Primal snarled within Soundwave's grasp, but he began feeling calmer by the second. _What is going on?_ wondered Optimus before he heard _"Optimus…Optimus Primal."_ "Who's there?" asked Primal as he looked into the darkness. _"I am a friend, Optimus. I came here to help you. I came to your world from another dimension, and I am currently trapped here with no means of escaping. I studied your fight between the Maximals and Predacons as an outside observer, but I think that it's time that I interfered. I am purging the virus from the mechanical cyber bee from your systems. I will continue to monitor your fight with the Predacons, but as of now, I still will keep out of the war since it is not mine"_ said the voice. "So that means you're a neutral?" asked Primal. _"For now, yes, but I was not always that. I will reveal my true self in time, but until then, I will keep contact with you to a minimum. Ah, we are here at the Maximal Base"_ said the voice as he releases Optimus out from the dark mists, before the UFO flew away into the night sky. Optimus looked up at the sky in wonder before he blacked out.

Some time later, Optimus awoke to find Dinobot besides him. "Bedside vigil, not like you" said Optimus. "It was my shift. Well, (ahem) it is good to have you back" said Dinobot before he got up and left. "Back home, or back to normal?" asked Optimus. Dinobot turned to face them, and then said "Both" as the ex-Predacon smiled. Optimus reclined, and then noticed the purple flower besides his berth, only with the center flower now in bloom. He noticed Dinobot walking out, before he chuckled and reclined yet again. _Still, I can't help but wonder who that spacecraft was. At least I learned one thing…that he's a friend_ thought Primal before he fell into stasis. Outside the ship, Soundwave monitored the whole thing with his tentacles before he flew away, happy that his Maximal "friend" was alright now.


	4. Going home is denied

_I do not own Transformers._

Some time later, Soundwave was scanning in what would become South America when some of his systems began detecting a signature, but from the sky. He tried to match the signature with known frequencies and other signatures, but this one didn't match any prerecorded ones. Flying upwards, Soundwave discovered a temporal probe flying past Earth. Deciding to follow, Soundwave chased the probe through the solar system, analyzing and scanning the probe for its information. _"Maximal/Autobot design from Cybertron. Capable of traveling through time to locate lost ships by transwarp signatures"_ read his scans as the ex-Decepticon followed the craft. _Better return to Earth and ask Optimus Primal on why Cybertron sent a probe_ thought Soundwave before he returned to Earth.

When he returned to Earth, he began searching for the Maximals in their territory, before he started searching in the Predacon territory. It took him a while, but he found the Maximals building a tower of some sort high on a mountain. He approached, and began scanning the tower with his tentacles. "Hey, tentacle pervert! Leave the tower alone!" exclaimed Rattrap before he aimed a shot at one of the tentacles. Soundwave's tentacle dodged the blow, as Optimus looked at Rattrap and said "Rattrap, stand down! The spacecraft here is a friend." "A what? But Optimus, that thing abducted you and…well, I don't know what it did, but it looked horrible" said Rattrap as he remembered when Soundwave enshrouded Primal in dark mists. "He was just purging the virus from my body, he wasn't harming me in any way" said Primal. "He was just…hey, wait a minute! How do you know that the thing is a 'he' anyway?" asked Rattrap. "Well, I…" said Optimus before Terrorsaur attacked them. The Maximals fired back at Terrorsaur before the pterosaur flew away. "Hey, why did leatherback fly away?" asked Rattrap. "Terrorsaur was always a coward" said Dinobot before a blast sent them flying.

Scorponok fired from behind them, then said "Megatron has ordered that this tower be demolished. Chew on this, Optimus Primal." "I don't think so" said Rattrap as Dinobot got up and said "And I really don't think so" before the two sent Scorponok flying off the mountaintop from their weapons. Rattrap noticed that Soundwave was scanning the electrical equipment and the dish on the array tower when Rattrap said "Will you leave that tower alone, tentacle pervert." One of the tentacles looked at Rattrap before Optimus approached the tentacle and said "Listen, friend, this is an Array tower. We're trying to contact a probe from Cybertron so we can go home." The tentacle remained silent, as Megatron appeared and said "Ah, Optimus Primal, I see that you have our spacecraft and a plan to get back to Cybertron. However, I intent to make sure that you don't contact that probe. Predacons, attack!" as the Predacons fired at the Maximals. Soundwave withdrew his tentacles and watched the battle below.

The fight went well, except for when Tarantulus' invention froze the Maximals in beast mode. Rhinox showed up, and hit Megatron hard, sending the tyrant backwards. Rhinox typed in a few commands, and was about to put in the transwarp signature when he got hit by Tarantula's invention and was frozen in his rhinoceros mode. Rhinox looked up to find Soundwave's tentacle looking at him as he said "If you really are here to help us, place this disk in the slot so we can contact the probe." The tentacle picked up the disk, but to Rhinox's horror, it got crushed. "Do you even realize what you did? You destroyed the one thing that can help us get back to Cybertron! You..." said Rhinox as the camera part of the tentacle focused as he thought _Primus! That thing did know what it was doing! Why did it do it? What are its plans?_ as a voice echoed in his processor _"I destroyed the disk because I don't want you to contact Cybertron for now. If you need a signal to be sent to Cybertron for a rescue mission, I am capable of doing so, but we'll do it on my terms"_ as the spacecraft levitated skywards and flew away.

"Ha ha ha. It looks as if that spacecraft _was_ built by Predacons or an alien race to assist us in the Beast Wars. Looks like your dreams of returning to Cybertron are over, Maximals" said Megatron before he transformed and ran off. Optimus was in shock, before he said "Why, just why did he destroy the disk?" "I told you that the spacecraft was up to no good! We're stranded here!" shouted Rattrap as Rhinox said "No, Rattrap, you're partly wrong. We are stranded here, for now, but the spacecraft told me that it would help us contact Cybertron, but on his terms. I guess that we may have to wait and see what that spacecraft wants before it allows us to return to Cybertron." "Yeah, well the next time that thing comes close to me, I'll blast each one of those tentacles off" said Rattrap before he headed back to base. _Why does everybody refer to that thing as a 'he' anyway? I don't see on how a spacecraft can be a 'he' in the first place_ thought Rattrap as he walked away.

Soundwave was absorbing energon within the Predacon territory when he registered an explosion on his frequency scanners. Deciding to investigate, he flew over to the pinpointed blast zone: the Predacon warship the Darkside.

When he got there, he found the ship in ruins and decided to investigate. Sending his tentacles down, he scanned the ship for any lifeforms and for any needed computer data. He noticed the Maximals at a distance, and then went back to scanning the ship. "Strange, no life signals…not even from that spacecraft" said Rhinox as he pointed his scanner at the Darkside and Soundwave. "Eh, so the Predacons are offline, and that thing is just a spacecraft. I still don't understand why both you and Optimus still refer to that thing as a 'he'" said Rattrap. "Still, I think that the Predacons are not as offline as we think. I can't sense them" said Dinobot as Rattrap said to him "Listen, chomperface, scanners don't lie" as Dinobot said back to him "So what do you know, vermin?" _Primus, those two are hilarious. I wish that the Autobots had them so I can laugh at their stupidity whenever they argue_ thought Soundwave as he watched the two argue.

His tentacles moved around the ship (but only in the areas where he could reach), and hacked into the computer's main frame. He found Scorponok's and Tarantulus' inventions, and downloaded them to his systems. _These will make some impressive weapons if I am to ever get out of here. Ratchet and Wheeljack would be interested in what I've downloaded so we can utilize these weapons against the Decepticons…but only if Optimus Prime approves. I know that both Knockout and Megatron would be interested in such weaponry to utilize against the Autobots, but I could always use a few Decepticon test subjects if I am to experiment with such weaponry back home_ thought Soundwave as he uploaded the blueprints for the weapons to his processor. His other tentacles searched other parts of the ship, and he collected a few specimens of Predacon technology and leftover body parts from the Darkside. When he collected what he needed, Soundwave flew off from the ship, and began searching for energon to replenish his depleted systems.

Much later, he saw Dinobot walking alone in his robot mode. A tentacle approached him, and Dinobot stared at it before he said "What do you want?" The tentacle looked at him, then back in the direction of the Axlon, then back at Dinobot. "You're wondering why I'm out here instead of being onboard the Axlon? The Maximals are planning on returning back to Cybertron, but I can't go back otherwise I will be prosecuted as a war criminal. I have a feeling that there is a reason why you wouldn't allow us to contact the probe from Cybertron" said Dinobot. A voice echoed in Dinobot's processor as it said _"There is indeed a reason why I wouldn't want you to contact Cybertron. You said that Cybertron will prosecute you as a war criminal, even though you turned Maximal, and I'm worried of what will happen to me if the Maximals found out on who I am. My prosecution will be far greater than what you will face when the Cybertronians discover me. I am currently on a mission of this place and once I'm done, I would have contacted Cybertron so the inhabitants there could find you. But, since the Maximals are leaving, there is no need for me to contact Cybertron."_ Dinobot was silent, and then said "So, you are a Predacon spacecraft, but…what is your mission here on this planet?" _"That, I cannot say. For me being a Predacon spacecraft…we'll play with that for now. Like I told Optimus Primal, I will tell you who I really am in time"_ said the voice before the spacecraft began taking off, but told Dinobot _"Oh, one more thing; you need to warn the Maximals that the Predacons are still online. They discovered the Maximal camera, and staged their death so the Maximals could repair their ship. Once that was done, the Predacons will attack so they can gain control of the Axlon and retrieve the protoforms in orbit around this planet."_ "Just where are the Predacons, if they are online? How do I know that this is not a trick?" asked Dinobot. _"You have to trust me that this is not a trick, as for the Predacons hiding place, it's in that crack down there"_ said the voice as a tentacle pointed to a crack in the earth. Dinobot walked over, and peered down with one of the tentacles besides him as he watched the Predacons bicker.

_(Tarantulas laughs)_

"Stop slobbering on me, Tarantulus" said Terrorsaur.

"I am feasting" said Tarantulus.

"Erugh, give Waspinator more room! Tarantulus fat enough already" said Waspinator.

"If Waspinator stops cuddling me like a stuffed toy when he sleeps, I'll eat him as well" snarled the spider.

"I'll like to see him try."

"Well, I will."

"No you won't."

"Yes, I will."

"No, you won't."

"You all make me sick! I can't stand this any longer, Megatron. I've got to get out!" said Terrorsaur before he laughs like a maniac, then Scoroponok hit him with a pincer.

"We wouldn't be here if you didn't trip over that spy cable" said Scorponok.

"You're correct, Scoroponok, but thanks to Terrorsaur's inadvertent discovery of our enemy's spy camera, we were able to pull this little deception, yes" said Megatron.

"But, what if they detect us? Don't forget, my signature damping device is still experimental" said Blackarachnia.

"We have only to wait until they repair their ship, and then attack while their guard is down. With the Maximal ship in our possession, we'll be able to recover the orbiting stasis pods containing Maximals eager to (laughs) become Predacons. So no one leaves!" said Megatron.

"Leaving, who said anything about leaving?" said Terrorsaur.

_Primus, this recording is going to be great! I can hardly wait to get back to the Autobots and show this to them! They'll just laugh at this_ thought Soundwave as Dinobot knocked a few rocks loose, hitting the Predacons and getting their attention. Soundwave's tentacles looked at Dinobot and he told him telepathically _Run! Warn the others!_ as Dinobot headed back to the ship in a hurry.

Soundwave waited as the Predacons emerged, as Megatron looked at the spacecraft and said "Yes, after we destroy Dinobot and the Maximals, we'll get that spacecraft and reprogram it for the Predacons along with the stasis pods." _Well, you'll have to get past me first_ thought Soundwave as he send out a dark matter cloud, before he made his escape. When the cloud dissipated, the Predacons found him long gone. "Quite an ingenious piece of technology. It will be perfect for conquering the galaxy, after we get the stasis pods" said Megatron, as the Predacons ran towards the Maximal ship.

Soundwave watched the battle from afar, as the Predacons fought the Maximals hard, but he watched Optimus fall from the Axlon to the ground below. Deciding it was time to interfere in battle again; Soundwave flew over to Optimus and tapped him with a tentacle. "Ow, my aching processor" said Optimus Primal as the tentacle continued to poke at him. He looked up at the tentacle, then said "What are you doing here?" as Soundwave pointed up to the Axlon above, as Terrorsaur and Waspinator were flying towards it. "The Maximals need my help! Optimus Primal, maximize" he said as he transformed and flew up. Soundwave flew after him, and knocked Waspinator out of flight. "Why does flying thing hate Waspinator?" he said as he crashed to the ground. Optimus blasted away Terrorsaur as he too, fell to the ground, and then noticed the Axlon heading for a crash landing. Optimus flew up, and tried to get the ship to fly, but it was too heavy. _I could really use some help now_ thought Optimus as the ship came crashing to the ground, but was slowed by something. _"I thought that you needed my help from the looks of things"_ echoed a voice in Optimus' processor. _Glad that you decided to help_ thought Optimus as he smiled, then both he and Soundwave managed to land the Axlon on the ground, but only after Soundwave got pinned beneath it. _OW! Slag that hurt!_ screamed Soundwave within his processor as the ship weighed heavily on the Nighthawk. After fumbling around for a few minutes, he began digging himself out with his tentacles; which took a few hours to dig himself completely out from under the Axlon. Exhausted, Soundwave fell into recharge after his ordeal from what he experienced that day.

Over a month has passed by since the Maximals have tried to return to Cybertron, and Soundwave was flying again. He was scouting for a lookout or a base of his own since he raided the Predacon ship, and he needed someplace to store what he discovered. He eventually found a nice location high up on a mountain, with plenty of places for the mech to sunbathe. It had a great view, and some energon deposits were in short flying distance. An added bonus was that this location was out of both the Maximal and Predacon territories; making it a perfect spot for a neutral. There was a large cavern in the side of the mountain, large enough for him to fit inside. Soon, the mech got to work, cleaning out the cavern and placing his discoveries, technology, and scrapped Predacon parts within the cave. He was happy with his new lookout/hideout, and decided that it was time to observe both the Predacons and Maximals again.

Soundwave flew over to the Predacon base, but found it in shambles. He heard Megatron shouting at Terrorsaur as he heard frightened cawing, and then a fight broke out. _Reminds me of the in-fighting troops back on the Nemesis. The Maximals must have planed something for the Predacon ship to be destroyed_ thought Soundwave as he turned around and flew for the Maximal territory. It didn't take long for him to find the Maximals relaxing, and he extended a few tentacles to record the conversation. He saw Rhinox sniffing a flower as he said "Ah, heaven" then Cheetor asked him what it was like to be a Predacon. "Like three gigabits of attitude on a two-bit hard drive. No wonder they got personality problems" said Rhinox before the Maximals (except for Dinobot) began laughing. _Decepticons aren't like that! Sure, we're not as relaxed as the Autobots, but we're not malfunctioning pieces of machinery! …except for Airachnid and Starscream; now those two were malfunctions_ thought Soundwave as his tentacles twitched in anger.

Night fell, and a large thunderstorm was on the horizon; to be more specific, in Predacon territory. Soundwave watched the storm and thought _I wish that Berserk was here to witness this. She was always good with storms in harvesting their energy._ He waited until the storm was over, and then decided to resume his search to find Ravage. He needed to find her if she was someplace on that planet…if she was online.

Soundwave was busy trying to find Ravage when his scans detected a falling object. _"Falling stasis pod…heading for coordinates…"_ read Soundwave's online tracking systems, and then followed the incoming pod to Predacon territory. _"Scans indicate unstable energon in area. Terrain unstable"_ read more of Soundwave's scans as he followed the pod. Not too far away was Rhinox, and he saw the stasis pod and Soundwave. "Rhinox to base" said Rhinox, but all that he got was static "Slag, too much energon interference. Looks like I'm on my own with him." He jumped, then raced to intercept with the falling stasis pod. Cheetor also saw the stasis pod as well; "Hopping helix, a stasis pod! Cheetor to comm scout one!" he said as he contacted Tigatron. _"Tigatron here"_ responded Tigatron. "I've spotted a stasis pod! It's coming down in grid Vega" said Cheetor "I'm going to get to it before the Preds do. Head for base, then head for my position. I'm going to need backup." _"It's done. Watch yourself, little cat"_ said Tigatron. "I always do, big cat. Cheetor out" said Cheetor, then he leapt off the branch and raced to the stasis pod.

The pod crash landed, and Soundwave stopped in mid-air. He heard Rhinox's footsteps, and then the Maximal jumped into the dry riverbed with the stasis pod. "Uh-oh" said Rhinox as he saw smoke rising from the pod, then headed for it. A boulder was on top of the pod, and Rhinox was receiving an energon overload. "Divert power from weapons array to field dampers, maximum tolerance" said Rhinox as the energon overload faded. Rhinox then removed the large boulder from the pod, and then opened it up. What he saw horrified him as he saw the liquidated protoform, with the spark fading. He opened up the pod's computer, and then typed in some commands. "Activate protoform. Begin scanning sequence" said Rhinox, and then the computer said _"Systems damage too extensive. Activation program offline. Spark fading. Repair required, or protoform will cease to exist in 8.6 cycles."_ "No" said Rhinox, then he began taking the computer apart and removed a chip from inside it. One of Soundwave's tentacles came in close, and narrowed its camera vision on the destroyed chip. They both head footsteps, and Cheetor appeared on the scene.

"Rhinox?" said Cheetor. "Cheetor, what are you doing here?" asked Rhinox. "I saw the pod headed for crashville, but I didn't expect to find you" said Cheetor. _'I expected the pod headed for crashville?' Now, what type of illogical speech is that?_ thought Soundwave as he listened in to the conversation. "I'm glad you did because I need help. This protoform's dying" said Rhinox as Cheetor said in horror "Dying? What do you mean?" "The stasis pod's been damaged. It's disabled the activation sequence, and burned out the locking sequence. If we don't do something quick, the protoform's spark will be extinguished" said Rhinox. "Then let's get in gear. What do we do?" said Cheetor. "Wish I knew" said Rhinox. Soundwave remained silent, before he spoke in Rhinox's processor _"Is there anything that I can do?"_ Rhinox looked at him then said "I may need some of your parts to fix the activation program. I need Cheetor's locking chip as well" said Rhinox as Soundwave lowered a tentacle, and Rhinox took a few needed parts from the tentacle. _OW! OW! OW!_ screamed Soundwave within his processor, before he withdrew his tentacle, and activated his dark matter healing sequence.

Rhinox then looked at Cheetor and said "This could be dangerous. If you soak up too much energon without a locking chip, you fry every system you have." "Our bud bot there deserves some kind of chance. You know more about protoforms than I do" said Cheetor "Cheetor, maximize" as he transformed. "This'll only take a nano-klik, but you'll have to go offline" said Rhinox, as Cheetor said "I could use the snooze. Repair mode."

_Darkness was everywhere around Cheetor, then Rhinox appeared and said "What's new, pussycat?" "Rhinox, what's going on?" said Cheetor before he noticed a large spark appear, then Rhinox showed his own spark. "A spark, and yours" said Cheetor as he looked from Rhinox's spark to the other spark. "Yep, the very thing that makes us what we are, and our spacecraft friend" said Rhinox "Every Cybertron, Maximal or Predacon, has one. And each, is different. When a spark goes online, there is great joy." Many sparks appeared, as Cheetor watched them in amazement. "When one is extinguished, the universe weeps" said Rhinox before everything turned black._

Cheetor came back online, saying "Woah, that was ultra-gear." "Tell me later, and go back to beast mode" said Rhinox with the chip. He then placed the chip in the systems, and then resumed fixing it. Soundwave watched with one of his other tentacles the protoform's spark fade as it was dying. Rhinox typed in a few commands, as the computer said _"Stasis lock restored. Implementing"_ as the protoform resumed a solid state again. Soundwave couldn't help but notice that the protoform looked like that of a femme. "All right, way to go rhino" said Cheetor. "All I did was buy us some time. Even with my dampers on max, this place is giving me chip flashes" said Rhinox. "So what do we do now, big R?" asked Cheetor. "Try and get the activation code back online" said Rhinox "I hope that the DNA sequences can find something alive in this wasteland." "Why don't we take it back to the base and use the restoration chamber?" asked Cheetor. "No time. Stasis lock only slowed down the spark's deterioration. We have to get this protoform online and into beast mode as soon as we can, or it's finished" said Rhinox.

"_Predacon detected"_ read Rhinox's scanners, as he said "And we have another problem." Cheetor left, as Rhinox kept on typing in commands. He soon heard gunshots, as he said "Looks like Cheetor's got his paws full, but I can't stop now" as he resumed typing. _"Program not accepted. Spark will terminate in 4.8 cycles"_ read the computer. "Ugh" said Rhinox as he hit the thing.

Rhinox then hooked up a cable to his shoulder, then attached the other end to the computer and said "Download sequence program to my central processor." The computer beeped, then said _"Download can cause damage to your circuitry."_ "Just do it!" said Rhinox as the program began. It overloaded Rhinox and sent him flying into the canyon wall. He hit the ground as his systems read _"Circuit damage. Field dampers down. Energon surge. Stasis lock imminent."_ "Beast mode" whispered Rhinox as he transformed then blacked out.

Soundwave watched the whole thing, then moved one of his tentacles down and read the programs. _"DNA sequencers online"_ as a probe popped out. The protoform turned back to liquid, as the computer read _"Scanning for compatible life forms." I could probably boost the scanning range if I send the pod some of my energy_ thought Soundwave before he uplinked his tentacle to the pod's systems and said in Rhinox's voice "Divert energy from my systems to boost scanning range for compatible life forms." _"Warning, unauthorized user. Scans indicate Decepticon. Depletion of energy can cause stasis lock"_ before Soundwave hacked into the system and overload the codes. The scanning range increased as the probe searched for a compatible life form.

Terrorsaur spotted the pod, Soundwave, and Rhinox as he flew in and said "Well, well. Rhinox and a stasis pod along with the spacecraft. This is my lucky day and your last." The pod's DNA sequencers activated, and the protoform began to change shape. "What, no!" said Terrorsaur as the protoform took a shape and flew off. Rhinox got up and said "Still feeling lucky, Terrorsaur?" before a large shadow flew above them and picked up Terrorsaur before it flew off. Terrorsaur hit a cliff, and then fell to the ground below. _I still can't believe how many times that happened to me_ thought Soundwave as he watched the battle. Terrorsaur cawed, then began chasing the falcon and blasted at it. Soundwave and Rhinox watched the dogfight, as the falcon transformed and blasted away Terrorsaur. The Maximal then flew down to Rhinox and Soundwave and said "You're Rhinox, and you're…" _"Uh, I'd rather keep my identity a secret, so please, don't reveal my name. Until then, just call me…Star"_ said the Nighthawk as Rhinox looked at him and said "You mean, all this time you could actually talk, and you didn't reveal it to us?" _"I like to keep my identity a secret, Rhinox"_ said 'Star' to Rhinox in his head. Rhinox then turned to Airazor and said "How do you know?" "I'm not sure, but I think I owe you my life" said Airazor. "Let's say we're even" said Rhinox before he turned to Soundwave and said "And Star, you have a lot of explaining to do."

Back at the Maximal base, Rhinox said "You were a little late this time, Optimus. Fortunately, Airazor took care of business. (laughs) They'll be salvaging Terrorsaur for days." Optimus approached Airazor and said "Welcome to the Maximals." "My pleasure, though I still don't know what to make of all this" said Airazor. "If you're smart, you'll make tracks" said Rattrap as Cheetor said "Pay no attention to the rodent. He was born with a major glitch." "You'll get used to everything, including them…maybe. Now, how about a tour of the base?" said Optimus. As they left, Rhinox said "When a spark goes online, there is great joy."

Outside the base, Soundwave was listening in; thinking _She kind of reminds me of Laserbeak and Buzzsaw, but mostly Pulse. I know that I will see my sparklings again, but I need to find Ravage first. I'll still watch over you, Airazor. A part of me will always be with you_ before he transformed and flew off to find his last sparkling.


	5. The Island and Darkness

_I do not own Transformers._

Soundwave was searching in Tigatron's arctic area when he detected a mysterious cloud that had more mass than it should. _Strange…clouds usually don't have that much mass…and neither should they have temperatures that high in this region_ thought Soundwave as his readings came back with tropical temperatures. Intrigued, he flew closer to the cloud and found a mysterious tropical paradise floating within the cloud. He floated closer to the ground, and began scanning the area. He noticed mysterious markings in some areas, but one of his tentacles activated them and the ground caved in as sharp stone spikes shot up. Recoiling his tentacles just in time, Soundwave made a mental note that the markings indicated locations of traps as he continued to explore the place. He found mysterious butterflies living within the place, before he heard gunshots and laser weapons. He saw a battle going on before he redirected his attention to a tower on the other side of the island powering up and shooting a powerful laser weapon at the battle. The energy beam blasted away at something, and then the tower fell as silent as before. _Whatever this place is, it doesn't like intruders that want to cause harm_ thought Soundwave as he continued to scan the area.

He was investigating the lake on the island when some of his sensors picked up vibrations as if something was disturbed. Some of the cameras on his tentacles focused in the direction where the disturbances were coming from, and he found Tigatron leaping out of the way as catapults were launching stones at him. Soundwave continued to watch Tigatron dodge the boulders before he began blasting them away. The laser fire activated the tower again, and it fired its beam at Tigatron. Tigatron leapt out of the way before the laser hit him. The laser fire stopped, and the tower became silent again. _"Tigatron, are you all right?"_ commed Soundwave to Tigatron. _"Star, you're here? What are you doing in this place?"_ responded Tigatron. _"I detected this island, and decided to investigate it. This tropical ecosystem doesn't make sense on why it's floating, nor why the traps are marked. Normally, traps aren't marked, but they seem to act as a warning to those who come here. I'm by the lake, but be warned; there are a few traps between us, so proceed with caution. Star out"_ commed Soundwave as he continued his scans within the lake.

Shortly soon after, Soundwave detected a small buzzing sound as he spotted one of Scorponok's cyber bees, and watched it fly by him before he saw Tigatron leap on it, stopping the bee in its tracks. It took him a few minutes for Tigatron to reach Soundwave, as the tiger said "Good to see you here, Star. It looks as if we're not the only ones who know about this island" as he placed down the bee besides Soundwave. "It is one of Scorponok's cyber bees. This land of peace may not be peaceful much longer. Still, it may be useful" said Tigatron. _"I can reprogram it so we can tell the Maximals about this island. They have to know that the Predacons know about this place"_ responded Soundwave before they saw Airazor fly above them, then got hit by one of Scorponok's missiles. The tower powered up once again, and aimed where Scorponok and Blackarachnia were, then fell silent once again. _"I'll get Airazor, you stay here Tigatron. I'll be back in a nano-klik"_ responded Soundwave before he flew to where the fallen falcon was, and then returned with her to Tigatron's location. "Just how fast is your flight speed, Star?" asked Tigatron as he looked at the spacecraft. _"Hey, I may be bulky in appearance, but I'm a lot faster than I look"_ responded Soundwave as he gently placed Airazor on the ground.

"Attention Maximals. This is a code one emergency message from Tigatron. Airazor has been damaged. She, Star, and I have been trapped on a mysterious flying island. This island is a self-contained ecosystem guarded by powerful weapons of alien design. Blackarachnia and Scorponok have already managed to invade. If they manage to gain control of the island and its weapons, the Predacons will be able to destroy the Maximal base and win the Beast Wars" said Tigatron as he moved the cyber bee to display the island and the tower on the camera.

"Airazor?" said Tigatron as Airazor slowly regained consciousness "Lie still. You've been hit. You're beast form will make repairs, but it will take time." "But Blackarachnia and Scorponok…" she said weakly. "I've intercepted one of Scorponok's cyber bees and reprogram it with Star while you were unconscious. With luck, it should reach Maximal base right about…now" said Tigatron. Soundwave watched Airazor with one of his tentacles as he thought _If the Predacons do manage to gain control of this island and win this so called "Beast Wars," I'll make sure that they stay in place. They don't know what true power is, even with a thousand islands of this design in their army._

Tigatron was watching the landscape and said "It is though as if I had come home. Though my heart is that of a Maximal, my soul is that of a tiger. And on this strange flying island, despite its weaponry, I at last feel myself at peace. It must not fall into the clutches of the Predacons." _You may be at peace, Tigatron, but I don't think that I will ever be at peace until I find Ravage. I can only be at peace when I find her and we join our family in that frozen wasteland_ thought Soundwave as he watched the scenery with Tigatron. Soundwave's tentacles were watching the island at different angles at different heights, and he watched Blackarachnia fall into a pit. _Primus, are all spiders in this world stupid? That one will be scrap metal if she met Airachnid_ thought Soundwave as Tigatron approached Airazor and said "We should move. How are you feeling?" "Better. Still trashed" she said as she tried to move her wings "Can't fly." "In that case, a lady shall ride a tiger" said Tigatron as he crouched low so Airazor could mount him.

Both Airazor and Tigatron were about to pass between two rocks, when Soundwave stopped them. "Why did you stop us, Star? Did you see something?" asked Airazor. _"There's a trap here. Look"_ responded Soundwave as he pointed to the mark _"The traps on this island have this mark here as a warning. We need to go around it."_ Suddenly, the walls began moving, as a large boulder fell on top of Soundwave's tentacle. _OW!_ Thought Soundwave as he used his other tentacles to shatter the boulder that was on top of the tentacle. The walls sealed up, forming a larger wall blocking their path. "Looks like that you saved our lives, Star" said Tigatron. One of the tentacles bowed, and then the three of them moved on.

Soon, the three of them spotted Rattrap, Optimus Primal, and Terrorsaur flying in towards them. Rattrap was flying on Terrorsaur, but the pterodactyl flew in low, and Rattrap hit a branch. "Man, talk about your bumpy flights" he said as he approached them. Tigatron approached Primal, shook his paw and said "It is good that you have come. The Predacons have almost reached the obelisk. We must stop them, but we must be careful to avoid the traps. Watch for that symbol" as he pointed his head in the direction of a marked trap on an arch of rocks "That marks a trap location." Primal picked up a stone, and threw it at the arch. The trap activated, and caved in on the path. "So I see" said Primal as he looked at Tigatron. _"I also recommend to not use energy weapons while in this place. That tower over there activates if you do, and it shoots a powerful laser at you"_ said Soundwave.

"Waaaaait a minute, wait a minute. You mean, whoever built this place went through all the trouble of making traps, and then mark them, and it won't let you use energy weapons?" said Rattrap. "What are you getting at, Rattrap?" asked Optimus Primal. "I'm saying that this place ain't no paradise. It's a puzzle. This whole place is designed to attract intelligent species, and then test them" said Rattrap. "Test them? Test them for what?" asked Airazor. "I don't know, bird lady, but I will tell you this: generally speaking, being a guinea pig ain't no long career gig, you know what I'm saying? I'm saying let us get off this flying odd bomb" said Rattrap. _"I don't know the true reason for this puzzle fortress, but I think that we may find the answer at the tower. There may be a message or a clue on who built this fortress and why"_ said Star _"But, it may be a good idea if the rest of you leave until I can figure out the answer to this puzzle."_ "No" said Tigatron "This is a land of peace. I will protect it." "It won't be a land of peace much longer. Look" said Primal as he pointed to Blackarachnia and Scorponok who had already reached the tower.

Soundwave sent out a few tentacles, and they zoomed in on the high focus lens as he took a close look at the tower. _"Whoever built this place wrote their language on the tower. I…can't decipher the meaning of the markings on the tower"_ responded Soundwave as he thought _So…the Vok are the ones responsible for this island. Neither the Maximals nor the Predacons need to know who created this island. Primus, it has been a long time since I've read literature of the Vok. Pulse may be interested for what this island is…if I can thaw her in time._ He also focused on Blackarachnia shooting a hole in the wall as Soundwave thought _Primus, spider, there's stairs just to the left of you. Are you too stupid to figure out what stairs are for? Are all Predacon spiders so stupid?_

Soon, the Maximals and Soundwave were on the move to the tower. "They've breached the monument" said Optimus as Airazor was testing her wings. "My wings have recovered" she said as she took flight. "Aw, man. I hate these long recharges" said Rattrap "Hey, gorilla guy. Any chance of a negotiated settlement?" "No, battle ready team. Maximize" said Optimus as he transformed and flew away. _"I'll go on ahead. I might be able to stop them"_ responded Soundwave as he flew towards the tower. Rattrap was shocked as he saw Soundwave fly then said "Just how fast can mountain back move? He reached that place within less than a nano-klik." "I don't know, but let's hope that he can stop the Predacons from destroying this peaceful land" said Tigatron.

Soundwave was at the tower, and his tentacles explored the place as they recorded the symbols on the wall. "It's mine" said Blackarachnia "This island's weapons will give me the power to defeat even Megatron. I will destroy the Maximals, and rule the Predacons" before she began walking to one of the corridors within the tower. She noticed Soundwave's tentacles, but the spacecraft paid no attention to her. "Ah, ah, ah" said Scorponok as he had his missile claw open "Megatron anticipated your treachery, so that's why I'm along; to eliminate you." "Fool, you fire at this range, and the explosion will destroy us both" said Blackarachnia as Scorponok began stepping away and said "No problem, I'll just get a little distance and…AHHHH!" as he stepped on a trap. He was holding on to one claw as Blackarachnia approached and laughed then said "Make that a lot of distance" before she kicked Scorponok's claw, causing the Predacon to fall through the bottom of the island and disappeared in the fog below. She turned around and said "Now…for power!" before a tentacle blocked her path. _"To access the power of this island, you're going to need my help. I was able to decipher all of the markings on this tower, so I alone know how to access this tower's weaponry"_ responded Soundwave. "How can I trust you? You've been hanging out with the Maximals, so I do I know that you'll won't betray me?" asked Blackarachnia. _"You'll have to trust me on this one. As for the Maximals…let's say that I was just spying on them as a secret agent so I can gain their trust and access their secrets"_ said Soundwave. "Fine then, but don't think that I will lower my guard on you" said Blackarachnia. _"I expected as much. Hurry, before the Maximals get here"_ responded the spacecraft as Blackarachnia headed up the stairs.

Some of Soundwave's tentacles were at the top when Blackarachnia reached the control center. _"This is the control center. Just step on the eye in the center to gain access to the tower's weaponry"_ responded Soundwave. She stepped on the eye, then the star lit up and gave Blackarachnia as she said "Yes, yes! I feel the power!" then walked over to a chair and said "I have the control! Let there be light!" Energy beams shot out in all directions from the pyramid on top, then moved upwards as the beams dissipated the clouds, exposing the night sky before energy balls began shooting out in all directions.

The Maximals on the land were fired upon, and the landscape was blasted as the tower kept on firing in all directions. Blackarachnia laughed at what was happening, and then she said "Full speed, to the Maximal base!" The tower lifted up high above the island, as it flew towards the Maximal base. Soundwave watched Tigatron and Optimus Primal approaching the tower as Blackarachnia said "Maximal base almost in range." _"So, this is the end of the Maximal base, with a storm of reigning fireballs?"_ asked Soundwave. "Yes, and I shall make them perish with my power" said Blackarachnia as she chuckled evilly. _"There is an old story on how there were ten different disasters, each one worse than the last. Your disaster is the reigning of fire from the sky. But, there is the second to last disaster; 'darkness that can be spread out across the land—darkness that can be felt.' That is my disaster"_ said Soundwave before the dark matter and dark energy clouds came out of his body, and spread out in all directions. "What? No, no!" said Blackarachnia as the darkness surrounded her and she felt the power draining from her body.

Soundwave's dark energy headed down towards the core of the tower, and the power core dissipated into nothing. The Maximals felt the darkness, and strangely…it was a warm darkness, one for them not to be afraid of. Soundwave guided the island until it landed in the desert not too far away from the Maximal base, and then Soundwave ejected Blackarachnia far off into the sky, straight for the Predacon warship. Just as mysteriously as the darkness appeared, it vanished back into Soundwave's body as the spacecraft fell down to the ground, depleted of energy. The Maximals looked around the island, and it was restored back to its former state before any of them came to the paradise. A beam of blue light shot out of the pyramid on top of the tower, then the beam went to one of the moons, where the beam itself was redirected to deep space.

Much later, outside the Maximal base, Rhinox watched the beam and turned to Cheetor and said "Woah! What do you suppose that beam was all about?" "Some kind of signal?" asked Cheetor, as Tigatron responded "A message! We were given a paradise. All that we had to do there was live there in peace! But, we proved unworthy and it almost became no more if Star hadn't saved it." "Yeah, it's an old story, but usually, the paradise is lost forever. Maybe someday we'll learn" said Optimus Primal. "Yeah, but pardon my pragmatism in this deeply philosophical moment, but I'm a little more concerned on who got that message, because you gotta know, they ain't gonna be real happy" said Rattrap. "What do you think that they're gonna do?" asked Cheetor to Rhinox. "That, we're going to have to wait and see" he said as all the Maximals looked skyward. "I'm also curious on why that island became enveloped in darkness before it landed" said Rhinox as Tigatron said "Star was the one responsible for that darkness, but something tells me that is not his full power. I still have a feeling that we have yet to see on who Star really is." "Yeah, but that makes me worried. If he's capable of stopping a flying island, who knows what that thing's limits are. I'm also concerned on who build him and for what purpose" said Rattrap. "For that answer, we're going to have to wait until he's ready to tell us, and that can take a long time" said Dinobot.


	6. Identity Revealed

_I do not own Transformers._

Soundwave was crawling along the plains when he felt a pulse shock his systems. _Good thing that I'm used to Berserk zapping me, or I wouldn't have built up this much resistance_ thought Soundwave as he brought himself online. He tried to contact the base, but the power there seemed to be offline. _Strange, what is going on?_ thought Soundwave when his scanners detected an incoming stasis pod. _So that's what the pulse was for; to send the Maximal's computers offline so the Predacons can find this incoming Maximal stasis pod_ thought Soundwave as he dragged himself to find the stasis pod before the Predacons did.

It took him a while, but Soundwave managed to make it to the top of a mountain, but something was wrong. He sent a tentacle to zoom in on the pod below, and he found the spiders reprograming the pod to be a Predacon. Sneaking up quietly, Soundwave made it to the spiders as he heard Tarantulus tell Blackarachnia that the protoform will be a new Predacon. He watched a lot of mists seep out of the pod, before there was a blinding flash of light before a gigantic ant crawled out. Blackarachnia wasn't impressed, and then asked Tarantulus if the ant was in fact a Predacon. "I am Tarantulus, your creator. Identify yourself" he said as the ant said "Spiders! Dare invade the colony. Inferno, terrorize" said the ant as he transformed. _Inferno? That was an Autobot back in the war. Why would a…ant or whatever that thing is, call himself Inferno?_ thought Soundwave as he watched the battle before him. "Destruction to all that threaten to destroy us. The royalty commands it!" said Inferno before he gave a salute. _'The royalty commands it?' What is wrong with his processor? I know that Insecticons form colonies, but this is ridiculous _thought Soundwave as he watched Inferno patrol around his pod. He spread his tentacles over a wide area in the underbrush, and managed to pick up the spiders' conversation. "That six-legged freak nearly roasted us" said Blackarachnia "I thought you said that he was a Predacon?" "His beast mode is dominating his logic circuits" said Tarantulus. "He thinks that he's a real insect?" said Blackarachnia as Tarantulas responded "Precisely. And he sees the pod as his colony. Anyone who threatens it is his enemy." "My cyber venom will make him more friendly" said Blackarachnia as Tarantulus said "No! I don't want to risk damage to the pod." "Why do you want that pod so badly anyway?" she asked. "That's not for you to know" said Tarantulus. _Ok, now I'm interested in why Tarantulus wants the pod so badly_ thought Soundwave as he continued to watch Inferno patrol.

Inferno looked up and saw Airazor approaching him. "Another invader comes from the air. It will burn!" he said. "An opportunity has arrived" said Blackarachnia as she walked over to Inferno as Tarantulas said "Yes." Inferno's rockets fired up as he flew over to Airazor. _"Airazor! This is Star!"_ said Soundwave through his comm link to Airazor. _"Star! Good thing that you're here! Did you manage to find…"_ said Airazor through her link before Soundwave responded _"That thing is a reprogramed Predacon! Get out of there!"_ as Inferno reached Airazor. Airazor flew out of the way as Inferno said "All invaders must burn! The royalty commands it!" as he began blasting at Airazor. "Blackarachnia, terrorize" said the spider as she transformed and managed to get a good shot at Airazor. The femme fell out of the sky, but Soundwave's tentacles managed to break her fall. He pulled her closer to him as he continued to listen to the conversation between Inferno and Blackarachnia.

"Destruction to the Maximals, the enemies of the colony!" she said as Inferno said "Maximals, yes, they are enemies. But you're not of the colony." "Actually, I am a personal friend of the royalty. Now, why don't we talk?" said Blackarachnia. _Scheming glitch! She reminds me of Airachnid with her webs of deception. How I hate that ex-Decepticon_ thought Soundwave.

He also noticed Tarantulus attach something to the stasis pod as he said "Yes, by all means, talk, while I secure the real prize" as he shot some webs out of his back. Soundwave was a little disturbed by what he saw as he thought _Reminds me of something that I saw Airachnid do to another Decepticon. I have no idea what it was, but Primus was it disgusting._ "At last, I have the means to escape this dust ball" said Tarantulus as he crawled off with the pod. The tentacles monitoring Tarantulus narrowed their lenses, before Soundwave followed Tarantulus with Airazor in tow. Airazor moaned, before she blacked out again.

Later, she woke up again and moaned as she looked around and said "Just where am I?" _"Shh, Airazor, keep your voice down! I'm following Tarantulus with the stasis pod. He needs the pod for something, but I don't know why or what for. Go warn Optimus and tell him that Tarantulus has the pod, and the new protoform is already a Predacon. I'm going to try to get the pod back"_ said Soundwave as Airazor looked down and saw that she was on his back. She transformed, and then flew off to warn Optimus.

Back at the clearing, Tigatron sniffed the ground and said "It looks as if the protoform is already a Predacon, and that Blackarachnia and Tarantulus were here as well" before he ran off in their direction. He managed to catch up to Soundwave as he asked "Star? Did you see Airazor or the new Predacon?" _"Yes, I did. I sent Airazor back to get Optimus, and the new Predacon appears to be an ant. Tarantulus has the pod, and somehow he needs it for something. You'll stop the new Predacon, while I get back the pod"_ responded Soundwave as he hid behind some rocks as he sent out some tentacles to find Tarantulus. He found the spider as he said "It's still after me! It's time for me to deal with him." Soundwave heard Inferno say "Must find the colony" as he thought _Still he thinks that the pod is his colony? That thing's more malfunctioning than Starscream whenever he plans to overthrow Megatron._

Inferno reached the pod and said "Praise the royalty, I found it!" as Tarantulus hopped out from where he was hiding. "Huh?" said Inferno as Tarantulus said "That's not all you found, insect!" as he transformed and shot a web at the ant. _"Nor it is the only thing hiding around here, Tarantulus"_ said Soundwave as a tentacle punched Tarantulus and send the spider flying. Wasting no time, Soundwave took hold of the pod and lifted it up. "Megatron orders that the stasis pod be brought to him at once, and that creature as well" said Scorponok as he shot a missile at one of the tentacles. Soundwave deflected the blast back at Tarantulus, before a tentacle spun, and began drilling into Scorponok. "Aaaaahhhhhhh!" screamed Scorponok as he felt his armor crack, and several internal components be mashed up. "The colony!" shouted Inferno as he broke free of the webbing, and transformed as he fired on Soundwave's tentacles. A blast hit Inferno, as Tigatron said "You won't be learning any of our secrets from that pod, Predacons!" A claw hit him in the back, causing the tiger to fall as Blackarachnia said "And you won't be getting any older, stripes." Tarantulus began firing upon Tigatron, before the earth shook and Megatron appeared on the scene. The spiders ran, then Megatron said "Playtime's over, pussycat, yes" as he fired his mouth laser at Tigatron. "Who's the first to sample my bite?" said Tigatron before he blacked out. Megatron laughed, as Inferno said "The colony! Who took the colony, who?" as he flew up in the air. "I like him, yes" said Megatron before he said louder "The spacecraft there took the colony, and the Maximal was assisting him! Destroy them both!" "You will burn, Maximals" said Inferno before he began blasting Soundwave's armor as Megatron fired upon Tigatron.

_This battle would go much easier if I still wasn't drained from last time and if my T-Cog was still working_ thought Soundwave as he felt his armor crack. Inferno landed on Soundwave as he pointed his gun at him and said "I will destroy you and all your kind" before he heard a missile and looked up, only to find himself destroyed by Optimus Primal's missiles. Optimus fired his second missile at Megatron, before he landed and picked up a badly damaged Tigatron. "Airazor said that you might need a lift" said Optimus as Tigatron looked at Airazor and said "That's another one of my nine lives that I owe her" before lasers were shot at them. Megatron managed to regain consciousness, but not for long before Soundwave's tentacles began tearing the tyrant apart. Megatron was defeated for that day as one of the tentacles approached the Maximals and responded _"We'd better leave before Scorponok calls for backup"_ as Airazor nodded and said "Time to hit the wind!" as Tigatron, Optimus, and the femme took flight. Soundwave crawled along the ground as fast as he could to Maximal territory with the stasis pod in tow.

By the time that he arrived at the Maximal base, winter had arrived, and snow was falling. He tapped on the Axlon as he placed the pod outside of it before he backed up and crawled to one of the energon deposits. He needed to fuel up after what happened to him.

Soundwave managed to find lots of energon deposits so he could do repairs to his entire body. He did a mix of absorbing energon and using dark matter to heal his body for the next few hours. It was only after that he repaired his T-Cog that Soundwave was able to transform back into his robot mode. He sat down and placed a servo over his fuel tank and thought to himself _I've got to stop consuming all of this raw energon. It's really messing with my systems_ as he offlined his optics and reclined against a rock as he tried to keep down his energon.

A few days passed, and Soundwave was well enough to fly again. He transformed back into his Nighthawk mode and took off for the upper atmospheres of Earth, then transformed into his satellite mode when he got high enough. He stretched his wings as he absorbed the sun's energy as he monitored the planet below. Soundwave had to move himself every so often to avoid hitting a Maximal protoform stasis pod, but otherwise it was pretty uneventful and quiet up there. He monitored more of the Beast Wars from his high altitude without any intervening with the Maximals or the Predacons.

The season grew warmer as winter turned to a late tropical spring, when the Predacons began attacking the base. He focused his main lens to Terrorsaur and Waspinator removing a device of some kind from the Maximal ship when Optimus Primal appeared on the scene. He watched more of the fight, but saw Airazor being blasted from Megatron in a sneak attack. _That's it, I'm going down_ thought Soundwave as he transformed and flew in to Earth.

He got to the base, and his tentacle tapped on the hull. The lower hatch opened, and a tentacle got inside. He met Rhinox in his beast mode, and noticed that all of the other Maximals were in beast mode as well. _"Query: What is going on?"_ responded Soundwave. "Star, I'm glad that you're here. The Predacons have taken our rectifier coil from our ship, and now we have to remain in beast mode to avoid energon overloads to our systems. Can you get it back for us?" asked Rhinox. _"Answer: I can with minimal difficulty"_ responded Soundwave before Rhinox asked "By the way, where were you for the last few months? We haven't seen you around." _"Answer: I was undergoing some exploration of this planet's atmosphere and lands"_ responded Soundwave as he thought _I was also searching for Ravage, but I couldn't find her._

Soundwave left the base, and flew over to the Predacon base, but found it abandoned. He decided to take the rectifier coil since he was there. The weapons system was online, but proved to be a minimal challenge for Soundwave as he transformed and decimated the defense system. He flew back to the Maximal base, and found the Maximals leaving along with Airazor. The Maximals were acting oddly to Soundwave, as if they were animals and not robots. His advanced audios managed to pick up the following conversation:

"(laughing) Exactly as my research on Maximal programing postulated, yes. Their beast forms are taking over in the exhaustion they are sleep prowling. Which means that tonight, we hunt" said Megatron.

_So, they decided to hunt down the Maximals since they've had to resort to beast form to avoid energon overloads. Then, this hunt will become more interesting; while the Predacons are hunting the Maximals, I'll hunt the Predacons_ thought Soundwave as he waited for the Predacons to leave before he followed them in his robot mode. Tonight was going to be one where no one will forget anything anytime soon.

Tigatron managed to get to the base, and found the Maximals being hunted down. He also saw something moving behind the Predacons, before a blast scattered them. _Looks like that I may have to act fast and find the Maximals before the Predacons do, or that thing does_ thought Tigatron before he transformed and ran off to find the Maximals.

Waspinator was flying as fast as he could, before a sonic weapon shot him out of the sky. "Waspinator is afraid! Waspinator doesn't want to be the hunted!" he buzzed as he hit the ground. Terrorsaur flew, but a second sonic blast knocked him out of the sky. Scorponok and Tarantulus both ran in opposite directions, but a few tentacles grabbed them and tossed them skywards, and just like the fliers, were hit by a sonic weapon. "What is going on? We're supposed to be the hunters, not the hunted!" shouted Megatron. "Don't worry, my queen. I shall defend you from this menace. The enemy shall burn" said Inferno before he flew off. "I'd wish that he'd stop calling me that" said Megatron.

Inferno flew through the forest, but was ambushed by a few waiting tentacles. He was torn apart, and then something walked through the trees. Inferno couldn't see because of the darkness, but whatever it was, it was huge. He screamed as he was crushed beneath the thing's pedes, then the thing walked off. "I'm sorry, my queen. I have failed" said Inferno before he blacked out.

Megatron was running through the forest in his beast mode to escape the thing, but he couldn't see where the thing was. He stopped when he heard Tigatron say "Hear me fellow Maximals. I know you are frightened, but I can help." Megatron peered through the underbrush, and saw Optimus Primal, Rattrap, Airazor, Rhinox, Cheetor, and Dinobot with Tigatron. "Access Maximal core consciousness. Passcode: Tigatron." _"Passcode, accepted"_ was heard as the Maximals began roaring and cawing. "Silence!" growled Tigatron to silence the group. "That's better. Now, listen well and learn. Once, we were merely robots in disguise, but on this planet, we Maximals have become something more. Maximal programming is designed to block our beast urges, but that has proven to be an error. Our beast forms are part of us, fighting their nature has only made them stronger. We must accept both beast and robot forms. Feel your core consciousness, find your programming block and delete it! Bring your beast and robot forms together. Let them work in harmony, and let them both make you stronger than you were before." _"Programming block deleted"_ was heard as the Maximals returned to normal. "No!" screamed Megatron as the Maximals turned and faced his direction. "My plan is ruined! At least I get to take all of you out in one shot" shouted Megatron before a sonic blast hit him.

The Maximals turned around and saw something hiding among the trees, but in a second, it was gone. "Woah, what in the galaxy was that?" said Cheetor. "I don't know, little cat, but whatever it was, it didn't belong here" said Tigatron. "Much on how that programming block didn't belong in our systems. That thing doesn't belong on this planet" said Rhinox. "Yeah, but whatever it was, it's gone now. I think that we should get out of here before it decides to come back" said Rattrap. "Still, it doesn't make sense. It managed to shoot down Megatron, but it left us alone. There must have been some reason for it to do so" said Rhinox. "We'll figure it out later. Now, we have to return to base and warn Star before that thing comes for him" said Optimus as he raced off into the forest. The other Maximals followed as well, passing the decimated bodies of the Predacons.

They managed to get back to base, and they found Soundwave placing the rectifier coil back where it belongs. "Star!" exclaimed Optimus Primal as Soundwave floated towards them "There's some sort of creature in the forest, and it turned the Predacons into scrap! You've got to get out of here!" _"I wouldn't worry about that thing. I think that it didn't want its territory invaded. Whatever that thing was, I saw it leave the forest. It will most likely not return anytime soon"_ said Soundwave.

Later, Soundwave was back in orbit around Earth when his scanners detected an explosion. He focused his lenses on the site, and found the Maximals damaged. Something seemed odd about them, as they fumbled around. "Suggestion for behavior: Maximals blind" said Soundwave to himself, then transformed and flew in. It took him about an hour for him to find the Maximals' trail, from the blast site through the swamp, and down the waterfall. He found Rhinox and the others barely online, when Rhinox said "Identify yourself!" _"Rhinox, it is I, Star"_ responded Soundwave. "Star, thank Primus that you're here" said Rhinox before he fell into stasis lock. Soundwave extended his tentacles and picked up Rhinox, Dinobot, Cheetor, and Rattrap, then headed for base. He got there in time, and the Maximals were placed within the restoration unit. "Good thing that you got here in time, Star. If you hadn't found them, they would have offlined" said Optimus. _"It was a pleasure"_ said Soundwave.

Soundwave was in orbit around Earth when he detected a life signal coming towards the planet. He focused his lenses on the location of the life signal, and found a spark heading towards Earth before it disappeared in the atmosphere below. An energon storm was camouflaging the spark as Soundwave's scanners lost the signal, causing the ex-Decepticon to be puzzled on whose spark it was. He ran a few matching spark energies with the bodiless spark, and found that Starscream's spark energy was closest to the floating one. Soundwave was a little bit worried for his Maximal comrades, but he was more worried that, if Starscream was able to identify him, the Maximals may no longer trust Soundwave. _I better find that spark and destroy it before it identifies me_ thought Soundwave as he waited until conditions were safe enough for him to descend. If, by any chance, should one of the lightning bolts from the energon storm struck Soundwave while he descended, he could face some heavy internal and external damage.

When the storm cleared, Soundwave transformed and descended down to Earth. He reached the Maximal base and tapped on the hull. Optimus Primal emerged, and greeted the spacecraft. "Star, I'm glad that you're here. The storm knocked out a number of our surveillance sensors, and the hull was damaged. We need your help incase the Predacons decided to attack" said Primal. _"Risk noted. Star will maintain surveillance until sensors are back online"_ said Soundwave as he began patrol duty.

Cheetor was outside as well, noting the damage from the energon storm when he spotted one of Scorponok's cyber bees. "One thing about an energon storm, it doesn't do much for the view. And speaking of views, someone's getting a scanner-full right now! Cheetor, maximize" he said as he transformed and shot down the cyber bee. Cheetor turned on his comm link and said "Hey, big bot! We were starred in someone's home video. Three guesses on who was watching the movie."

The Maximals were repairing the base, when a blast was aimed at them. "What?" said Optimus. "They're attacking the other side!" said Rattrap. "Hello, boys. Just happen to be in the neighborhood" said Waspinator in a high screechy voice. "So we'd thought that we'd drop in" said Blackarachnia as she fired at the Maximals. A tentacle from Soundwave came down and ran a spark scan on Waspinator. _"Sensors indicate two sparks in Waspinator's body. One is of Waspinator, the other is of Starscream"_ Soundwave's scans read as the Maximals transformed. _"Optimus, leave Waspinator to me. You'll take on Blackarachnia"_ said Soundwave as his tentacles descended and tried to grab Waspinator, but Starscream's spark was controlling him, making it impossible for the tentacles to catch up with the Predacon's speed.

While the both of them were preoccupied, Megatron got in and fired at the security systems as Cheetor entered, saying "Don't you know that gate-crashing is rude? Next time, try knocking" before he fired a shot at Waspinator. Waspinator was flying too fast with Soundwave's tentacles chasing him, so Cheetor kept on shooting Soundwave's tentacles by accident. _"OW! OW! OW! OW!"_ screamed Soundwave before the extra tentacles were withdrawn. Starscream flew up and fired at Soundwave, damaging his armor. Waspinator kept on flying around the Maximals in circles, as Cheetor said "Since when did buzz-brain learn that move?"

"Since his exostructure was commandeered by the spark of Air Commander Starscream of the Decepticons" laughed the Starscream-possessed Waspinator. He then shot at Cheetor as Dinobot said "Starscream? Impossible!" when Megatron shot Dinobot from behind, saying "We must pay attention, Dinobot or, dearly me, look what happens." The damage to the computer systems of the Axlon was massive, and Optimus looked at Rattrap and said "We've got to get out of here. Regroup and recover!" "What? And leave the place to the Preds?" said Rattrap. "There's no choice, Rattrap. On my signal!" said Optimus. "Yeah, right. Like this rat needs instructions to leave a sinking ship" said Rattrap. "Maximals, full retreat" said Optimus as he grabbed a hold of Dinobot and flew off with him, only to be intercepted by Terrorsaur. "Maximum burn!" said Optimus as he flew up faster and punched Terrorsaur in the faceplates.

Up above, Airazor was watching the battle below as she said "Something tells me that this isn't a fire drill. I better go find Tigatron" as she flew off. Soundwave stayed behind, and pretended to be damaged severely (he was hurt, but he was more than capable of taking down the rest of the Predacons.) "Victory! The Maximal base and the spacecraft are ours!" exclaimed Megatron. "What do we do now? If we're here, then our base is unprotected!" said Tarantulas in a worried tone. "First we conquered, now we divide" said Megatron "Tarantulus, Terrorsaur. You'll return with me with the spacecraft. Scorponok and Blackarachnia will remain behind, under the command of Starscream." "Starscream, how come he gets promoted?" asked Terrorsaur. Megatron groaned, and then had Terrorsaur's helm in the Tyrannosaur's mouth. "Thus you are rewarded for your loyal service" said Megatron to Waspinator "And you are to keep your beak shut!" when he tossed aside Terrorsaur. "I'm just grateful that I'd had a chance to help" said Waspinator. "Yeah, I'll bet" said Blackarachnia. "We are well pleased with Starscream, so far, but watch him closely" said Megatron to Scorponok.

Back at the Predacon base, Tarantulas was running diagnostics on Soundwave as the computers scanned him. "Wow! Megatron, it looks as if our spacecraft isn't just a spacecraft after all! The scans are indicating that it's really a transformer!" said Tarantulas in awe and shock. Megatron approached, and said "Yes, and the Maximals were fools in not realizing the full potential of this thing! With Starscream and this spacecraft under our command, we'll win the Beast Wars!" as he began laughing. Sirens began blaring off, as the computers began going haywire as they read _"Warning. Decepticon hacking into systems. Warning. Decepticon hacking into systems."_ "What?" snarled Megatron as he looked at Soundwave, and saw his extra tentacles hacking into the ship's computer. He looked back at the screen and said "Computer, run diagnostic on who's responsible for this." _"Spark scans indicate that hacker is Soundbl…"_ read the computer before a new voice said _"Your worst nightmare. Predacons inferior, Star superior"_ as all the lasers began going off inside the ship. A number of Predacons were blown to pieces as they ran in all directions.

While Soundwave was hacking into the ship's computer and caused the systems to go haywire, the Maximals couldn't help but notice the screams and explosions that were coming from inside the ship. "What the cheese is going on?" said Rattrap in confusion as parts of the ship were caving in. "I don't know, but it looks as if someone was doing an inside job to destroy the ship. Could it be Starscream's work?" asked Cheetor. Rhinox shook his helm then said "With what Dinobot told us, this isn't his work. It looks as if someone smarter was responsible. Someone with great intelligence of computers."

"What is going on?" screeched Starscream as he flew in. "I've got to tell you, Starscream, you're giving space debris a very bad name" he said. "Primal, you're beginning to irritate me" said Starscream. "Big bot, all right!" said Cheetor as Rhinox said "I'd say that it's trampling time" as he fired up his gun. "No, leave him to me. He's mine" said Optimus as Waspinator began firing on the Maximal. Optimus flew in close, and then punched Waspinator in the faceplates. Starscream flew, and slammed into a rock as he groaned.

From inside the Predacon ship, Soundwave watched and laughed as the former Second-In-Command of the Decepticons was getting beaten up by a Maximal. He decided to make his escape, and ejected his blaster cannon and blew open a hole in the front of the Darkside. Soundwave flew out, and hovered above the Maximals. Cheetor looked up and said "Star, it's great that you're here! Were you the one who was damaging the Predacon base on the inside?" A tentacle came out, looked at Cheetor, and nodded, then the group resumed watching the battle. They watched Starscream act like the coward that he is, before Blackarachnia launched a sneak attack and aimed at the crystals behind Waspinator as they blew up. Waspinator's parts were spread out, and the Maximals headed back for base.

Later, aboard the Darkside or what was left of it, Waspinator was on a berth and said "Waspinator has a headache in his whole body" when Starscream's voice came in and said "And you're crushing my spark! Move your spark over!" "Waspinator hated when Starscream possessed Waspinator! Get your spark out of Waspinator's body!" shouted Waspinator. "No, you find another body! I claim this one as my own!" shouted Starscream. "No, you get another body!" screamed back Waspinator. The two continued to shout at each other when Megatron shouted "Silence!" and the two sparks in Waspinator's body shut up. "While the two of you were unconscious, Blackarachnia filled me in on your treachery, and so the both of you will be punished!" snarled Megatron as Starscream's voice appeared and said "But Megatron, I'm loyal to you." Megatron's optics narrowed, and then said "Since you were in the Decepticons hundreds of years ago, perhaps you could tell me on who was hacking into our computer systems. When we brought in that spacecraft from the Maximal base, it hacked into our computers and turned our defense systems against us. We managed to find out that it was a transformer disguised as a spacecraft, and it was a Decepticon. We only know that his name is Sound-something, so perhaps you could fill us in for who that spacecraft is." Starscream thought for a moment, and then screamed "I should have eliminated him first! He always messed up my plans to rule the Decepticons, and now he's back!" as he shot a fist in the air.

"So, who is this spacecraft?" asked Megatron as he brought his helm in close. "It's that loyal spy, Soundwave. I'd thought that he'd be offline by now, but he managed to find his way here with his body intact! I'll destroy him!" screamed Starscream. Megatron thought for a moment, and then said "So, it looks as if the Maximals have Soundwave as their loyal companion. Yes, he will make a fine Predacon, if Tarantulus could reprogram him" as he looked at Tarantulus coldly.

Sometime later, Soundwave was scanning the area of what would become Asia when he detected a massive energon explosion, and braced himself for the shockwaves that hit him. _Gah! It smells like the barracks of the warrior class! _thought Soundwave as his detected the stink in the air after the shockwaves. He flew over to a lake, and proceeded to clean himself. Somehow, he really needed to bathe himself after the stinky shockwaves.

Dinobot and Cheetor were out scouting for alien sites one day, leaving Optimus at base when he heard a tapping on the hull of the ship. "Looks like Star is back again" said Optimus as he went outside and saw Soundwave outside the ship. _"Greetings, Optimus. Why isn't Cheetor and Dinobot at the base?"_ asked Soundwave. "They're out scouting for more alien sites. Those sites are dangerous, and I want to find as many as possible before the Predacons do" said Optimus. _"Query: Why didn't you ask me that before? I have detected multiple sites across this planet"_ replied Soundwave. Optimus looked back at Soundwave in shock, and said "You have? Could you upload the sites to the computer systems? We need to know about as many sites as possible." Soundwave uplinked himself up to the Axlon, and began uploading as many sites as he had already detected (minus the location of his sparkmate and his family in the Antarctic.) Optimus was impressed, and then thanked Soundwave when they received a message from Cheetor, _"Cheetor to all units! Dinobot is down, and I'm under heavy fire! Code R!"_ "Come on, we have to help them! Prime jets, on!" said Optimus as he flew to Cheetor with Soundwave behind him.

They found Cheetor later on, and Dinobot was missing. "Cheetor, where's Dinobot?" asked Optimus. "He went after Tigatron. Tigatron has quit the Beast Wars. Snowstalker died in battle by accident, and Tigatron is tired of the destruction to this world. He doesn't want to fight anymore" said Cheetor. _"I'll find him. Perhaps, I can convince him to fight again, or at least remind him on why we fight"_ replied Soundwave as he went off to find Tigatron.

It didn't take long for Soundwave to find Tigatron, as he landed in front of him. "Leave me alone, Star. I told Cheetor and Dinobot that I'm no longer part of the Beast Wars" said Tigatron. _"Reaction to death of Snowstalker, acceptable. Leaving Beast Wars, not acceptable"_ said Soundwave. "Why don't you leave me be? I no longer wish to fight" snarled Tigatron. Soundwave was silent for a moment, then said _"Query: Can you keep a secret?"_ Tigatron narrowed his eyes, and then said "Why do you ask?" _"Repeat: Can you keep a secret?"_ asked Soundwave again. "If it means that you will leave me alone, then yes, I can keep a secret" said Tigatron. _"You must not tell the Maximals of what I am about to show or tell you, until I tell and show them myself of what I am about to do"_ said Soundwave as Tigatron nodded, then watched the spacecraft transform. Where Star once was, a gigantic robot with six satellite wings appeared, with the sunset glittering off his glassy armor. Tigatron stared at Soundwave in silence, and then the ex-Decepticon sat down and said "My real name is Soundwave, not Star. I didn't want to tell the others until I decided that I was ready to tell them" when he looked at Tigatron "But to you, I have no choice. There are reasons why we fight, and why this war has to continue." "But, it doesn't have to, not when peace is an option!" said Tigatron as Soundwave shook his helm. "Not in this war. Peace isn't an option. Defeat of the Predacons can only be the result of this war if peace is to stand a chance" said Soundwave. "How can you know that? There has to be a peaceful way to end this war" said Tigatron as Soundwave shook his helm again. He then looked down at Tigatron and said "I must tell you of what I have seen in my many long stellar-cycles of being online."

Soundwave began his tale of how he came from another universe and was hopping from universe to universe. He told him of the Autobots and Decepticons fighting, and what their philosophies and ways of life were. He also told him of what happened in Pulse's timeline with the Decepticons winning and destroying the future and that was a possibility if the Predacons were to win this war. Tigatron listened to the wars that Soundwave fought in, and then said "But why must you fight in them? Couldn't the wars have ended with both sides living in peace?" Soundwave looked down at Tigatron and said "Optimus from my world wishes that were so, but he has to fight. Megatron and Optimus don't see optic to optic on things, and the war goes on. He fights to stop his brother, but he wishes that the both of them were at peace again. It wasn't until Unicron tried to offline Optimus that Megatron saved his life, and then he sacrificed himself to get Unicron away from Optimus. Unicron was later defeated, only for Starscream to resume command of the Decepticons. Who knows what has happened since I've been gone." "But, you don't know of the pain that I'm feeling for losing Snow Stalker. She was my mate, and now she's dead" said Tigatron as he looked down in sadness "All because of this war." "Do you think that you're the only one mourning for a lost one? Six of us came to this world from another dimension, including myself, and now they're gone! Four of us are frozen in the frozen wasteland at the bottom of this world, while the last one is unaccounted for. I'm searching this planet for her, but as each solar cycle passes, I'm losing hope that she's still online" said Soundwave as he looked at the sky. "But, they're your comrades. I've lost a mate! Do you have any idea how painful it is to lose someone that you loved?" said Tigatron before Soundwave looked down as his wings drooped. Tigatron looked on in shock and said "You mean…?" "They were my family, yes" said Soundwave "The one missing was my daughter. I don't know if she's still online at this point, but I must find her. I wish to know what happened to her."

Soundwave then detected Dinobot on his scanners, then transformed back into his Nighthawk mode and said to Tigatron _"Maybe Dinobot could convince you on why you have to fight in this war"_ before he levitated up and flew away.

It wasn't until Tigatron was back in the frozen arctic that Soundwave met him again. _"Have you decided to rejoin the Maximals, or are you a neutral?"_ asked Soundwave when Tigatron looked up at him and said "I did rejoin the Maximals, Soundwave. Though it saddens me that this planet suffers from this war, I know that I must fight to protect it from the destruction of the Predacons." Tigatron walked off a little bit more, before he turned to Soundwave and said "But, I must thank you for that talk that we had. Thanks to you, Dinobot, and Optimus, I know now why we all fight. It pains me to know that you lost your family, and why you search this world for your daughter. I still have my mourning to do for Snow Stalker." _"Listen, Tigatron. If you ever want to talk about it, I am here for you to share your pain"_ said Soundwave as the tiger nuzzled against Soundwave's armor.


	7. The End of the Beginning

_I do not own Transformers._

Sometime later, Soundwave was high up in orbit when his scanners detected an energy source. His lenses focused on a region, and pinpointed to the area where the massive energy surge was coming from. He detected a glowing mountain, and it was sending a signal of some sort. Deciding to investigate, he transformed into his Nighthawk mode and flew in. He was only about several thousand feet in altitude above the mountain when he focused his vision and saw Inferno flying away with something. He followed the ant to the Darkside, and stealthily floated over to the ship, and let his tentacles out to investigate. His cameras on his tentacles navigated through the ventilation systems, until one of them found Megatron talking with Inferno about the disk. Soundwave attached himself to the ship, and stayed there until Megatron finished decoding the disk.

When Megatron left, Soundwave extended a tentacle, and began scanning the disk. What the scan told him filled him with dread as he continued to scan the data, and then withdrew his tentacles. He needed to find Ravage and get his family off of that planet fast!

Soundwave flew up high, and did a maximum scan over vast areas as he tried to find a spark signature that matched Ravage's spark, but nothing came back. He managed to scan the Predacon area, but instead of finding Ravage's spark signature, he found a battle going on between the Maximals and the Predacons. It wasn't your usual battle with lasers and energy weapons, but one that had the Predacons being defeated in a rather comic manner. _Ok, I have enough time to record this_ thought Soundwave as he recorded the battle and laughed. Terrorsaur flew into a steel plate held up by Rhinox and Cheetor as he was chasing Tigatron, and later, ran into Rhinox's aft after Rattrap mocked him with a red cape. Inferno flew towards Airazor, but Optimus flew above him and ripped out the fuel lines that powered up Inferno's rocket, causing the Predacon to fall to the ground. Tarantulus and Blackarachnia tried to sneak up on Dinobot, but they got crushed by a rolling boulder. He had never such a funny battle before in his entire life, as the Predacons walked away defeated and the Maximals without a scratch on them. After he calmed himself down, he resumed his search to find Ravage. He definitely was going to show her this footage sometime later. She just loved to watch the classic Warner Brothers and MGM cartoons.

Once the battle was over, Soundwave went back to scanning for Ravage's spark signal. He scanned everywhere in all coordinates, but his scanners detected a space power anomaly. Curious, he changed his direction and headed for the power anomaly. Soundwave managed to get their first, but his scanners read _"Rattrap and Airazor are in area." Slag, they're close. I don't want them to get close to this anomaly…or at least until I decode it for what it is first_ thought Soundwave as he overheard Rattrap said on how both he and Airazor were the first ones there to get vaped. "Do you ever think positively?" asked Airazor. "Hey that was positive, sister. I could have said 'Now we are the first ones to get tortured and then vaped'" said Rattrap. "You're a real fun bot, you know that?" replied Airazor as the two of them landed at the site. "Oh looky here, looks like our spacecraft friend is here first" said Rattrap as he approached a spherical energon crystal as he said "Strip my circuits and call me a toaster! This crystal is stable." _"Don't touch that!"_ shouted Soundwave telepathically to Rattrap. "I should be able to scan it safely" said Airazor as she began scanning. "It's a field generator" said Airazor as she reached out with a servo to the crystal. _"Airazor, don't! You don't know what you're doing!"_ shouted Soundwave, but it was too late. Airazor had touched the crystal, and an energy beam zapped her. An energy wave hit Rattrap before it sent him flying, but the energy didn't hit Soundwave as he threw up some protective dark matter shields around himself. The crystal continued to glow brighter until it formed a protective dome around the anomaly site, cutting off Airazor and Soundwave from the outside world.

Airazor groaned as she stood up, and found herself inside the dome with Soundwave next to her as the both of them heard voices. "I mean you no harm" said Airazor before the voices answered then shot out lightning from all areas, electrocuting the femme. Soundwave watched in horror before Airazor shouted "Beast Mode" then transformed back into a falcon then passed out as the voices garbled something with the last word being "…Cybertron." Soundwave watched over her as he looked around. He felt as he was back on trial with the Great Serpent, but he was stronger now, perhaps he could reason with the Vok. It took a while before he noticed Optimus Primal enter the area with Rattrap. "Airazor" said Optimus before he approached the fallen falcon and checked her. He looked at Rattrap and said "Get her out of here! Quickly!" "Man, you don't gotta tell me twice" said Rattrap as he held on to Airazor's neck, then began dragging her out of the dome. Airazor blinked, then said "Optimus don't stay." "I have to, since our arrival on this planet; we haven't been the best of tenants. These aliens have the right to expect some answers." "Optimus, no" said Airazor as Soundwave said _"I'll be staying with Optimus. Perhaps I can reason with the aliens."_ He looked at Soundwave and said "Star, what makes you think that you can talk with them. You haven't been exactly honest with us." A tentacle shot out and looked at Optimus before he responded and said _"Think of me as a bot that is in a greater position to reason with them. I have some credentials that might make them more open to listening to what I have to say than to somebot in your position, but if you want to reason with them first, be my guest."_ Optimus gave a glare at Soundwave, then said "Alright, whoever you are…" before mechanical tentacles shot out of the floor and grabbed Optimus. They lifted him up and held him above the crystal before two screens appeared and did a painful scan on his systems. _I've heard that the Vok were supposed to be nonviolent, but what I've seen lately, I'm beginning to think that those old records of them were wrong_ thought Soundwave as he watched what was going on.

"Scan complete, this is the specimen that we've analyzed before" said the voices of the Vok. Optimus moved in pain, and then asked "Who are you?" Lights materialized out of the darkness before forming Unicron's head as it hovered above Optimus and Soundwave. "Unicron!" called out Optimus. "We have no visual body that you can comprehend, we chose this figure of authority from your data tracks" said the Vok. _"I can see you in your actual bodies, so there's no use in fooling me"_ responded Soundwave as the trial began. "If you scanned me, then you know that we did not come to this planet by choice" said Optimus. "Yet you are here" said the Vok. "We mean no harm, to you or this planet" said Optimus. "It is too late" said the Vok "You and your enemies have already contaminated the project. The harm has been done. That has not become part of The One shall become part of The Void." "No" said Optimus "Wait, we can fix whatever damage was done." "We are not interested. The experiment will be sterilized" said the Vok. "You can't do that! There are living creatures here, you with all your power, even you have no right" said Optimus. "You have no choice. There is more danger than you know. Begin termination sequence" said the Vok as they floated away. _"Stop!"_ called out Soundwave, getting the Vok's and Optimus' attention _"I am an ambassador of a higher power than of this entity that you refer to as The One. As much of this higher power is displeased with this race responsible for countless planets that engaged in their wars and their taste for destruction, HE doesn't like it when there are innocent lives that must pay for their blind destruction. HE will be displeased for all the living creatures on this planet that must perish because of him and his enemies. It is not of HIS will for the innocent to perish in times of war or genocide, but of who can be saved in such events. HE feels their cries and emotions from all universes, and knows their pain and sorrow within his form. Only he and his enemies have earned the right to be executed, but not the living creatures of this planet. Only HE possesses that power and judgment of when it is time for this planet to die, but until then, all have to await trial until that day."_ The Vok remained silent then said "We are sorry, but what has happened is no longer part of The One. The termination has begun" before the shape of Unicron vanished. "No!" screamed Optimus as the termination sequence began, then began breaking free of his chains "Optimus Primal, maximize!" Optimus transformed, then flew out of the dome as it began to glow white. _"I have to find Ravage before this place is sterilized, otherwise the consequences will be dire"_ thought Soundwave as he flew out of the dome.

He got far away, and then noticed a bright beam of blue light shoot out of the dome and head for one of the moons. _I have to investigate what's going on; the Great Serpent will be disappointed if this planet is to die by another result of the Great War_ thought Soundwave as he flew up into outer space, then transformed into his satellite mode. He saw the second moon blow away its cover as a black metal was beneath its surface, before the lights began activating. Soundwave's scanners went haywire as he detected a massive energy surge coming out of the machine and the stasis pods being felt by the energy field before falling to Earth. Large beams of light shot out of the moon as the machine began activating. _Whatever is going on, this isn't good_ thought Soundwave as he watched the events of the end beginning to unfold.

The moon continued to glow brighter as it became enveloped in a blue sphere of light, glowing brighter and brighter until it lit up the sky as if it was dawn. Soundwave kept his distance, but continued to monitor what was going on until the beam ended, leaving the moon as a dark sphere. It only took a moment before more lights shone out of the moon before it began to transform. The exterior moved as it receded until it resembled a large ring, and the center began to glow as it became a second ring. Cautiously, Soundwave approached the machine and began to run some new scans on it. The center then transformed until it resembled a flower-shaped bowl with a long piece sticking out from the center. It remained silent afterwards, and with the opportunity before him, Soundwave approached the machine. He ran some scans on the machine as he hacked into its systems as Soundwave raced against the clock.

Horror flooded through his systems as he learned that this machine was designed to destroy planets as he stopped what he was doing. He looked back at Earth, and thought of his family below on the planet. He knew that Berserk, Pulse, Laserbeak, and Buzzsaw were frozen below in the arctic, and that Ravage was somewhere still on the planet. _I need to stop this thing before it destroys them all_ thought Soundwave before he resumed his hacking skills.

It took a while, but Soundwave managed to reach the programming core of the machine when it began to activate. The golden flower bowl at the center of it began to glow as energy came out of the center. A massive beam shot out of the machine, and Soundwave resumed his hacking as his systems did some scans on what the machine was doing. The beam was heating the planet up to some high temperatures, and the temperature was climbing. Soundwave stopped what he was doing when he found out that there was no way to stop what the planet-destroying machine was doing, except to destroy it. Withdrawing his tentacles, Soundwave retreated from the machine when his own scanners detected multiple disturbances coming from the planet below. He turned his helm, and saw the planet being torched with eruptions coming from all areas.

Memories flooded of his processor as he remembered the Great War that he fought in back on Cybertron. Back then, he didn't care who offlined during the war, but now, there was his family below on the planet. If he didn't do something soon, they would all offline. Gathering up his courage, Soundwave tapped back into his dark matter and dark energy powers as his body became engulfed in darkness. A purple corona surrounded him as he reached out forward with his arms as two steams of dark energy shot out before him. The streams began to coil around the outer ring of the planet-destroying machine as Soundwave began tearing the machine apart.

A good proportion of the machine was destroyed when he picked up a transmission coming from inside the beam. _Optimus? What is he doing up here?_ thought Soundwave before he stopped what he was doing, transformed back into his Nighthawk mode then flew in to the Maximal.

Optimus was screaming and banging on the pod's glass when he heard "_Optimus? What are you doing up here? You're supposed to be back on the planet with the Maximals!"_ echo through his processor loudly. "Ow, Star, must you shout so loud? What are you doing up here anyway?" asked Optimus. "_I'm trying to stop this machine from destroying the planet. What are you doing up here?"_ responded Soundwave. "I'm trying to destroy the machine that the aliens have created with a transwarp explosion, but Megatron has sealed the pod so I can't escape" said Optimus. "_I'll help you get out"_ responded Soundwave as he began flying in close.

Optimus was almost at the machine when several tentacles appeared out of nowhere and began hacking into the pod's systems. "_Pod hatch's magma sealed override accepted"_ read the computer as the pod opened up when the explosion hit. "MEGATROOOOOOOON!" screamed Optimus when both he and Soundwave were engulfed in the explosion.

"Big Bot?" asked Cheetor as he looked at the fuzzy screen. "Oh, come on, come on" said Rattrap as he tried to get the computer running again. He hit the screen, and it came back to normal. "That's better" said Rattrap "Computer report." _"Alien Construct destroyed"_ said the computer. "Later for that hunk of junk. Where's Optimus?" asked Rattrap. _"Unit Optimus Primal…online"_ replied the computer. The Maximals cheered, when the computer reported_ "Unit Star online but in stasis lock."_

"SLAG IT!" screamed Megatron when he heard the news that both Optimus Primal and Star were still online. "You've failed, Megatron" said Scorponok before Megatron hit him hard. "Waspinator happy to see end of alien machines" said Waspinator when Starscream took over and said "But that doesn't mean anything with Optimus Primal and Soundwave still online. Why didn't they perish in the blast?" "Yes, that does cause some concern for the Predacons, but with Soundwave in stasis lock, and Primal still up there, it will take some time for the both of them to reach this planet and the Maximal base. Now, there is work to be done" said Megatron. "What kind of work?" asked Terrorsaur. "The Predacon kind. Let's defeat the Maximals at base while they are leaderless at the moment, and when both Primal and Soundwave return to this planet, we'll ambush them. This will be the final battle!" said Megatron before the alarms began going off.

"_Warning, sensors detect quantum surge approaching planet"_ said the computer. "To your stations, quickly" said Megatron. Meanwhile, at the Maximal base, the Maximals were wondering why Star was up there with Optimus. Before any of them could come up with any answers, the computer's alarms went off as the message played _"Alert, quantum surge detected in vector 5970."_ "Looks like that we've got a big problem" said Rattrap.

The quantum surge raced towards the planet, hitting Soundwave and Optimus primal before it hit the planet itself. Clouds were blown away, as both the Axalon and Darkside were hit by the wave. Mountains trembled, rocks fell, forests shook, and a mysterious energy entered both ships. Airazor, Tigatron, Dinobot, Inferno, Rhinox, and Blackarachnia were the only ones unaffected by the blast, but the others in both ships mutated. Cheetor, Rattrap, Megatron, Terrorsaur, Waspinator, Tarantulus, and Scorponok began glowing as their bodies mutated from the quantum surge. Terrorsaur and Scorponok fell into the pit of lava while Waspinator fell into the Predacon CR Chamber as they mutated. "What is happening to me?" questioned Megatron as he felt pain in his entire body.

A dusty fog clouded the planet as unimaginable destruction on the surface took hold before the Maximals and Predacons woke up. Waspinator crawled out of the CR Chamber, and he asked "What happened to Waspinator?" "That Quantum Surge mutated your body, but I've manipulated the mutation so your body looks more like my old vehicle mode" said Starscream. Sure enough, Waspinator's body did mutate, making him stronger than ever. His body color was crimson with a black abdomen, with turquoise wings, and golden optics (on his body). His regular robot-form optics were turquoise, and he was now a triple changer (he could also transform into a jet besides a wasp.) Both sparks looked up to find Megatron, and Waspinator asked "Megatron, what happened?" "I've had a change for the better. Yes" he replied.

At the Maximal base, Rhinox was having a dream where he looked back in the supposed last few moments of Optimus' life before the explosion. He saw Optimus in stasis with Star, but Star looked very different. For one thing, Star looked more like that huge monster that lived in the forest on the night that they were all sleep prowling, and Optimus himself looked different. His robot form was different, and he was a lot more metallic than before. Slowly, there was a hissing sound, with Rattrap saying "Yo, big buddy, how are you feeling?" Rhinox breathed in, then stepped out of the CR Chamber as he looked at both Rattrap and Cheetor and asked "What happened?" "Rhinox, you ok?" asked Rattrap. "Rattrap, what the?" asked Rhinox as he looked at Rattrap's more metallic form. "Oh, it's kind of a new look" replied Rattrap. "Where's Optimus?" asked Rhinox. "I don't know. He's somewhere up there with Star, but we can't contact either of them. They're both in stasis lock from the explosion, so we don't know their condition" said Rattrap. "Tell me what happened, all of it" said Rhinox.

Back at the Predacon base, Megatron looked around then said "And where are Terrorsaur and Scorponok?" It didn't take long for that question to be answered when Terrorsaur and Scorponok jumped out of the lava screaming "Hot! Hot! Hot! Ow! It burns! Hot! Hot! Hot!" Scorponok's body was now a bright crimson, with his legs silver, and had yellow claws. Terrorsaur was purple, a deep, dull red, and a light metallic tan color on his body. The two were now Transmetals, and a lot stronger than before. "Ah, yes, it seems as if my own troops have gained full advantage of this quantum surge to upgrade. Yes, yes" said Megatron. "Will you two stop screaming? The both of you are giving me a processor ache" screeched Starscream as both Transmetals shut up. "Thank you, Starscream" said Megatron "And now, we attack the Maximal base!"

Soundwave was dreaming in space as he saw a vision. He dreamt that he saw new forms of the Maximals and Predacons fighting each other, but the Maximals had great difficulty stopping the Predacons. Cheetor, Rattrap, Tigatron, and Airazor were defeated and reduced to scrap metal, while Megatron chased after Blackarachnia for deserting. The other Predacons were cheering over their victory, when they all left for the Predacon base. He continued to dream as he witnessed Silverbolt and Quickstrike join the Predacons, and he even saw Dinobot take the two disks and hide them. An ancient voice answered in Soundwave's processor _"One of those disks was from the Voyager Spacecraft sent by Earth a long time ago. They were symbols of peace so alien races can contact Earth if the satellites were ever found. The disk contained images of Earth itself, and recordings known as "The Sounds of Earth." Megatron wants to use the disk as a means to control the future by alternating the past, leading to the extinction of the humans, and the defeat of the Autobots. If Megatron manages to find the disk, he will conquer Earth, and rule Cybertron. This must not be allowed to pass, Soundwave." "Star? Are you there? Star?"_ asked Rhinox. Soundwave groaned, then said _"What is it, Rhinox?" "We need both you and Optimus back here on this planet. The Predacons have us outnumbered, and we really could use your help. They have upgrades, and most of us are in the CR Chambers back here on the Axlon. Dinobot is the only one online who is capable of defending us. We need your help"_ replied Rhinox.

"_Optimus, Optimus Primal? Are you awake?"_ asked Soundwave. He tapped on Optimus' helm with a tentacle, and the mech groaned. "What happened?" asked Optimus. _"You were in stasis lock, but it appears to have worn off. We are needed back on the planet. The base is being attacked by Predacons. Dinobot is the only one who is capable of fighting the Predacons. He is vastly outnumbered, and the Beast Wars will be won if we don't arrive there soon"_ said Soundwave. "How do you know this?" asked Optimus (he was still a little bit groggy.) _"Rhinox contacted me with his core consciousness. He is too weak to fight at the moment. Let us hurry and help out Dinobot"_ replied Soundwave. "Uh, Star? Since when did you have arms?" asked Optimus. Sure enough, he saw Soundwave's arms. _"Never mind that! We have to get back!"_ shouted Soundwave as he transformed into his UFO mode. _I really need to get a good look at Star one of these days_ thought Optimus as he boarded Soundwave, and the two departed for Earth.

"All Predacons, open fire!" commanded Megatron as the Predacons fired at the base. _"Shield failure in eighteen milicycles"_ said the Axlon's onboard defense system. Megatron laughed, as the shields failed, and Rhinox said "It's us and the Preds now." Both Rhinox and Dinobot fired at the Predacons, but they ran out of ammo in no time. "Predacons, attack!" commanded Megatron. "But Megatron, there are only two of them, and there are eight of us. Surely, you must let them surrender" said Silverbolt. Megatron looked at Silverbolt, and then grabbed him by the neck, and he said "I told you last time, Fuzor, that if you disobey my orders again, I'll tear you limb from mismatched limb. You've just wasted your last chance." With his tail, he fired a plasma blast at close range, blowing Silverbolt into pieces. "Now, with that interruption gone, fire!" commanded Megatron as the remaining Predacons fired at the base. Rhinox and Dinobot were severely injured from the blasts, and they blacked out.

The sun rose the following morning, as Rhinox said "Comes the dawn." "And our doom" said Dinobot as his arm fell off. The sun silhouetted the Predacons as Megatron said "Move out, Predacons. We've waited a long time for this, yes. Let us be close enough to enjoy it." The Predacons reloaded their weapons, and then moved in on Dinobot and Rhinox. "At least we go with honor" said Dinobot. "Not on this day, Dinobot" said a voice above them as Soundwave flew in from the heavens.

The Predacons gasped, and then Optimus flew out of Soundwave's cockpit as he said "Well, that's just prime." "Primal! And that thing! Destroy them!" commanded Megatron. The Predacons fired at them, but the blasts did nothing as they bounced off of Optimus' hover board and Soundwave's armor. "My turn" said Optimus as he fired at the Predacons, as Soundwave fired his high-frequency cannon. "Flight is no longer your advantage, Optimus" said Megatron as he transformed. As Optimus and Megatron fought in a dogfight, Soundwave dispatched the other Predacons with ease, leaving only Waspinator.

"So, Soundwave, it's been a long time" said Starscream as he took over Waspinator's body. Soundwave remained silent as Starscream continued talking. "It's too bad that I didn't destroy you while Megatron was still online, but now, I can finally fix that error" said Starscream as he fired his null rays at Soundwave. Soundwave dodged by using his speed, and then whacked Waspinator's body away with one of his tentacles. "I may not know you from this universe, but you possess all the traits of the Starscream from my dimension" said Soundwave before he fired a high-frequency blast at Starscream, sending him flying.

Soundwave turned around, and saw Optimus triumphant over Megatron's body. "Come on, Star. Dinobot and Rhinox need to get to the CR Chamber immediately" said Optimus.

Later, after all the Maximals were healed (and with Silverbolt as the newest Maximal), Optimus said "So, the alien explosion did this, huh? How do the new bodies handle energon buildup?" "Not an issue around here, Big Bot" said Cheetor. Rhinox said "This sector of the planet got the full force of the alien beam. All of the energon was either detonated or transformed into stable energon cubes. As for the rest of the planet, we don't know." "Right. In the meantime, I've got a lot of catching up to do. People to meet, things to do, specifically have Rattrap clear all of his junk out of my quarters" said Optimus as he looked directly at Rattrap. Since one of Soundwave's tentacles was in the ship, it turned to Rattrap and he said "Rattrap, how could you be so low to do that?" "Rattrap" said Cheetor. "Opportunistic vermin" said Dinobot as he shook a fist at Rattrap. "Hey, come on; give me a break will ya? And the guy was missing" said Rattrap. "Rattrap, I've met a lot of bots that were missing in action over the stellar cycles, and most of them were still alive" said Soundwave. Dinobot snarled, and then punched Rattrap, making the rodent mech spin. _With all of these upgrades, and the so called…fuzors, this should be an interesting development in the Beast Wars. Future development should be interesting_ thought Soundwave.


	8. New Mission

_I do not own Transformers._

Time went on by, and Megatron was sitting on his throne as he said "Ah, my happy little band. Eager to begin another glorious Predacon day, are we?" "Why have you called me here, Megatron? I am engaged in important research on our new Transmetal forms" said Tarantulus. "Yes, I have no doubt that you are. But, I have more important duties for you" said Megatron as he pulled up a 3-D scan of an area on a projector screen. I've detected a large store of energon cube in grid Arachis. You will build a refueling station there. Blackarachnia, Quickstrike, and Terrorsaur will assist you" said Megatron.

Blackarachnia pulled up next to Megatron and said "Don't trust tall, dark, and gruesome by himself, do ya?" "If I get to kick some Maximal butt along the way, who cares?" said Quickstrike as he pulled up. "How may I serve you, royalty?" asked Inferno as he pulled up. Megatron groaned, and then Waspinator said "Yes, what does Waspinator do?" "You two, along with Scorponok, will construct a jamming tower at these coordinates, disrupting Maximal communications" said Megatron. "What precisely are you doing?" asked Tarantulus. "Planning for the future, now go!" commanded Megatron as the Predacons left. "As you wish, my queen" said Inferno as he left. "Oh, how I do wish that he'd stop calling me that. Now, with them out of my circuits at the moment, I'll be doing a little bit of research on my own. Computer, pull up all files on the ancient Decepticon Soundwave" said Megatron.

Soundwave was within sector 847 when he spotted the Predacons. Curious about them, he hovered in close, and let out a few tentacles to inspect them. "Sugarbot! Hey now, I told you that I could help you with that. What the?" said Quickstrike as he saw some of Soundwave's tentacles come in close. "It's that blasted Maximal Soundwave. I've heard that he was such a loyal Decepticon" said Tarantulus "Who could have thought that he was an Autobot all along?" _"Correction. I am still a Decepticon. I choose to be with the Maximals because I am studying them"_ replied Soundwave. "So, you're a Decepticon? Is there any way that you care to prove it?" replied Tarantulus. _"Answer, no. Query: What are you four doing?"_ asked Soundwave. "We're, ufh, trying to, ufh, make a, ufh, refueling station for, ufh, Megatron" said Terrorsaur as he carried his load. _Maybe if I can gain his trust, his body can be used in my plans_ thought Tarantulus. "Listen, Soundwave, if you want, you can see where the energon storage is. We're carrying all this heavy equipment here, and some of us are just too weak to carry it. We can really use some help" said Tarantulus. Soundwave remained silent for a moment, then replied _"Of course"_ as his tentacles wrapped around some of the construction equipment and started to follow the Predacons. _I have no idea on what Tarantulus' plans are, but it is worth to keep a close tentacle on him. He is proving to be quite an Airachnid. I wouldn't be all too surprised if he proves that he's bonded to her_ thought Soundwave.

"This here's the right spot, all right. Once we're done here, little lady, ain't nothing gonna bother us" said Quickstrike as he came closer to Blackarachnia within the energon cavern. Soundwave was assisting some of the Predacons with loading in the equipment as Tarantulus said to himself "Mhmm, ah yes, Megatron chose wisely. I won't be needing the Maximals after all." He then reached into the equipment, and broke a signal drone that was hidden in there. Soundwave managed to spot what was going on, and moved a tentacle close to Tarantulus and asked _"Query, what did you do that for? What was that thing?"_ "Oh, just a little tracking drone. I think that Terrorsaur planted it there so the Maximals could find us. I think that he's planning for the eventual defeat of Megatron" said Tarantulus. _What this stupid machine doesn't know is that I'm planning to place my new lair within this cave. It's not like that this flying chandelier can read my processor_ thought Tarantulas.

"You know, properly defended, this cavern will almost make a perfect fortress" said Blackarachnia as she looked around. "Yes, I suppose that it would" said Tarantulus before he walked off and began looking around. He noticed the large mass of glowing energon cubes from above the cavern and said "With this much energon, it could support a frugal Predacon for quite some time." "Something's peculating in that devious brain of yours" said Blackarachnia as she approached Tarantulus. "You're right about this place. It would make a perfect new lair. For all of us" said Tarantulas. "Look, I know that you're upset about your old lair being destroyed in the big burn…what do you mean, 'all of us?'" said Blackarachnia. A tentacle came in close and listened in to the conversation. "You, me, perhaps the Fuzor, the spacecraft, and Terrorsaur as well; all five of us against both Maximals and Megatron alike" said Tarantulus. "Side with you, against Megatron?" said Blackarachnia as she laughed "You're out of your mind, webs. But, then again, we do have the spacecraft with us. It may prove to be a useful advantage against Megatron." "Hey, do I got to do all the work around here?" said Quickstrike as he approached the spiders.

_Those arachnids are proving to be very disloyal to Megatron. Tarantulus is proving to be the Airachnid of this dimension. It is still too early to determine Blackarachnia's true loyalties, but so far, she is proving to be a bit of a Starscream_ thought Soundwave as he continued to assist Terrorsaur with the construction of the refueling station. He continued to listen to the arachnids' conversation, and thought _Seeing how these arachnids plot against Megatron will be most amusing. I'll just watch their activity for now and see what progresses._

Megatron finally finished his research on Soundwave and leaned back and thought _Ah yes; the original Soundwave was the most loyal Decepticon to the original Megatron. Yes, the Maximals probably don't know about the real threat that looms within their ranks. Looks like this Soundwave just needs a little convincing to join our ranks, yes. But, I have to carefully plan this out. No telling what that thing's real power is._

Soundwave overheard Quickstrike warning Terrorsaur, Blackarachnia, and Tarantulus about the approaching Maximals, and thought _I need a place to hide. I don't want to sever my loyalties with the Maximals when I'm conducting this "research" on the Predacons now._ He flew out of the lair, and hid behind one of the mountaintops, with a few tentacles peeking behind the mountain and began watching the battle below. He couldn't help but note that Silverbolt refused to battle Blackarachnia, and Quickstrike's attraction to her. _Hmm, a little romance in the battle below…this will definitely affect the Beast Wars_ thought Soundwave. A sudden blast shook the mountain, causing Soundwave to shake as a cave-in occurred to the cavern below. He waited until all of the Predacons and Maximals left, and then he levitated out from his hiding spot and began to investigate the rock slide below. _Cave-in from a missile, illogical. Looks more like a well-placed charge detonated within the cavern. Question: Why? Continuation of investigation: logical_ thought Soundwave.

He continued to investigate the cave in for a few more hours, before he heard a motorcycle engine. A tentacle caught Tarantulus approaching the cavern, but stopped when he saw Soundwave. "Soundwave, just why are you here?" asked Tarantulus. _"Query: Why did you return?"_ asked Soundwave. "Whatever do you mean by that?" replied Tarantulas. _"With this 'cave-in' and your return to here, I suspect that it was you who planted a charge. Query: Why?"_ replied Soundwave. "Oh, a spider like me needs a lair, you know. The Darkside is crowded as it is, and I need my space for my experiments" said Tarantulus. Soundwave continued to stare at Tarantulus before he levitated up and flew away, thinking _There is more to the story than what Tarantulus is telling me. I will continue to monitor him for answers._

A few weeks had passed, and Soundwave was in orbit above the Earth. He had scanned the areas where the Planet-Buster had burned the planet, and Soundwave was impressed by the amount of destruction. A mysterious canyon had shown up on his scanners a few days ago, and Soundwave was intrigued. Transforming into his Nighthawk mode, he flew in to the atmosphere as he headed towards his destination.

When he got to the ground, he saw that the canyon was full of plants and a mysterious flower. He shot out a few tentacles, and began running some scans on the plants themselves. As mysterious as these plants were, something else showed up on his scanners. _Odd, I'm detecting mysterious energies at this site. Yet, I don't see any of those alien structures. Could it be underground?_ thought Soundwave as he continued to scan.

"This canyon looks fresh" said Airazor as she appeared. "And it looks as if our friend Star has found this canyon as well" said Tigatron as he spotted Soundwave. Tigatron approached a plant and said "By the matrix! Magnificent!" as a flower opened up. "I've never seen a plant like this before, better scan it" said Airazor as she transformed. Tigatron transformed as well, and then approached Airazor. "I've forgotten what beauty this planet once offered" said Tigatron as Airazor smiled at him. Soundwave rolled his optics as the two held servos, and then a tentacle noticed the thorn-covered vines move towards the couple. _"Airazor! Tigatron! Get out of here!"_ shouted Soundwave but it was too late. The plant had captured the two transformers.

"_No!" _screamed Soundwave as he began clipping the plants with his tentacles, but it was of little use as the plants continued to bind not only the femme and the mech, but Soundwave as well. Focusing his telepathic powers on the two, Soundwave flung the Maximals as far as he could from the canyon. Soundwave's body began to glow blue as a blue and golden beam shot down to Earth from outer space, trapping the Star Warrior in a force field. "No!" shouted Cheetor as he flew into the canyon, but he was too late as Soundwave's body got turned into energy before he was beamed-off into deep space.

Soundwave's mind was intact as he was transported beyond space and time to the Vok's nebulae. Two entities appeared, as one of them spoke; "Why are you here? We were trying to capture the ones known as Tigatron and Airazor." Soundwave was silent for a moment, before he transformed into his robot mode and stared at the two. "My name is Soundwave. I have come from beyond this dimension and into this one by accident. Why must you interfere with the Maximals' and Predacons' war back on that planet? What is the harm that they are doing, besides to themselves?" asked Soundwave. "Their existence on that planet's past is interfering with the timeline of this entire universe. They must be destroyed" said one of the Vok. "How is their existence within a planet's past interfering with the entire universe? I can understand with their existence interfering with that planet's past, but not the rest of the universe. Just how?" asked Soundwave.

The Vok explained everything to Soundwave, and when they finished, the Star Warrior was silent. Soundwave understood why the war was interfering with the universe and why that war must be stopped at all costs. "Ok, I now understand why this war is a threat to the rest of the universe and the timeline, but I still consider some of your methods a little bit too extreme. I will monitor the war itself, and I will keep the war within check to avoid the end of the universe. I will not reveal on what you told me, for it is not of your will nor the will of The One" said Soundwave. The Vok replied "We will keep in touch with you if the war interferes with the timeline again. We will contact you if there is anything that needs to be fixed on that planet." With that, the Vok sent a return beam to Earth. Soundwave stared at the Vok for one last time before he transformed back into his Nighthawk mode and rode the return beam to Earth.

He was in for a long ride, but when the ex-Decepticon arrived on Earth, he noticed an energon storm affecting a swamp area. Curious, he descended into the storm, and scanned the area. He managed to find a large stasis pod, but the storm was making it hard for him to determine what kind of pod it was. Flying in closer, Soundwave managed to get a good look at the pod. It was large, and had an enormous X on it. Extending his tentacles, they scouted the site, and Tarantulus' body was found within the area as well. A quick scan determined that it was another transformer that did the damage, but it wasn't one that Soundwave knew of. His sensitive audios picked up both Silverbolt's and Blackarachnia's voices, so he flew off and hid within the forest as the two transformers came into view.

Deciding to stay out of this conversation, Soundwave managed to learn a little bit of the mysterious "Protoform X." He soon saw the Protoform X's alternate modes, the way it battled, and on how it lost to the Maximals. Once the Maximals left, Soundwave came out of his hiding place, and extended a tentacle to Protoform X. Its camera optic narrowed at the creature as Soundwave said telepathically _If I ever see you approach some of the inhabitants of this planet, I will personally deal with you myself. Both the Maximals and the Predacons have caused enough trouble on this ancient planet, but with you involved….it makes this war a lot harder to keep from interfering with time itself. I'll make sure that you'll die a slow death._

A jet-like sound was heard; Soundwave looked up and saw Megatron coming. Withdrawing his tentacles, he turned around and sped off into the clouded sky. He had another mission to complete for the Vok.

It took him about a day, but the Star Warrior managed to reach a valley covered in trees and vines. He descended into the forest, and extended his tentacles to do some observations. He found two sapien creatures eating ants from an anthill. _Strange that ancient humans…evolved from these creatures_ thought Soundwave as he recorded their behaviors. A snake soon appeared, frightening the humans. One of the tentacles shook to indicate how humans were still afraid of snakes (then again, in this time period it was just a defensive instinct to be afraid of those creatures.)

A few hours went by, and Soundwave picked up Cheetor communication to the base _"Cat-patrol to bot base. Got a blue-plate sighting in Tangou sector. Crab legs and Crabby all-you-can-eat." Seriously, does Cheetor still report like that? You'd think that he'd mature with the trans-warp explosion, but no, he's still as immature as before_ thought Soundwave. He heard several explosions, which then caught his full attention. He extended his tentacles to get a better view of the battle going on. He saw Rampage and Megatron blasting at Cheetor, and picked up the feline talking to Dinobot. He then heard Cheetor ending with _"Yeah, but I'll survive. Somebody's got to pick up on Megatron, and follow on what he's up to" _as the flying cheetah flew away. _Why would Megatron decide to go here of all places? There's no energon nor stasis pods within this area. Knowing Megatron, there's got to be some ulterior motive_ thought Soundwave as he continued to watch Megatron and Rampage.

Nothing happened for a while, so Soundwave decided to watch more of the ancient sapiens. They seemed so peaceful, minding their own business as they foraged for food. The peace was soon disturbed, as Megatron flew overhead, frightening the humans. _Now what is that slagger up to?_ thought Soundwave as he watched the mechanical dinosaur fly overhead. He then picked up Megatron talking to Rampage, then saw the crab blow up a mountain. Soundwave listened in a little closer, then fear gripped his spark as he discovered Megatron's plan to alter the future.

"Now, according to this disk, the human race emerges from this valley. (growls) Humans, thanks to their interference, the Autobots defeated the Decepticons, and thus it is the Maximals that rule us. But, no longer, no. Destiny is about to undergo an improvement" said Megatron as the other Predacons showed up.

Soon, Megatron has Waspinator, Inferno, Blackarachnia, Quickstrike, Rampage, Scorponok, and Terrorsaur lining up on one side of the valley. "Destroy this valley, and everything within it! The human race will never have existed!" cried Megatron before he began blasting the valley with the Predacons. _So, this is why the Vok wanted both sides eliminated. But, there is one flaw in your path to glory, Megatron. How can you and your Predacons stand up to the Transformer who brought down Unicron?_ thought Soundwave as he began to rise up, but he then noticed Dinobot hopping down into the valley in his robot form. _Now what is he doing here?_ thought Soundwave as he flew in closer to the Maximal.

Dinobot began charging to Inferno and Blackarachnia, but a tentacle caught his leg, and he was facing the Star Warrior in his spacecraft mode. "Star" he snarled "What are you doing here?" _"I was asking myself the same thing"_ replied Soundwave. "Well, for your information, the Predacons are going to exterminate the human race" growled the dinosaur. _"And you want to fight because…?"_ replied Soundwave. Dinobot sighed, and then said "It's because of destiny. I took the golden disks, and I learned of what they held. Megatron wants to use them to destroy the humans so the Great War could be tipped in the Decepticon's favor." _"Why then fight the Predacons? Were you not one yourself?"_ asked Soundwave. Dinobot looked down, then looked back at Soundwave and said "It's because of honor that I wish to protect them. Megatron and the others have none; they'd rather fight the dirty way and win the war by tipping it in their favor so the Maximals would be erased."

Soundwave remained silent, then said _"You know, ever since I came to this planet, I've been trying to figure you out. You always reminded me of a Decepticon that I'd once knew, but I was unable to figure out which one until today. I'd always thought that you'd reminded me of Starscream due to his treachery, but as of now, I'd been proven wrong. You remind me of Dreadwing. Even though he is very loyal to Megatron, he fights with honor. I will help you defeat the Predacons, but in order for me to do that, I have to transform into my true identity. My only request is that you don't tell the others on what you're about to see."_

Dinobot could only stare back at Soundwave in confusion, before he was placed down on the ground, and he saw the spacecraft transform into something… Dinobot widened his optics as he saw Soundwave's robot form. "You…you…you're that thing from the forest!" cried out Dinobot. Soundwave nodded, then said "True, but my real name isn't Star. It's Soundwave." He then raised his arm, and then fired a sonic attack at Inferno and Blackarachnia, blasting them to pieces. He then looked down at Dinobot and said "Come. We've got more Predacons to defeat, and ancient humans to save."

Rampage and Waspinator were busy blasting away at the forest, when something shook the ground. A dark energy spear shot through Waspinator, sending the insect into stasis-lock. Rampage looked up and saw Soundwave. Fear gripped his own spark, before more dark energy spears were shot at the crab. Rampage screamed in pain, then aimed his gun at Soundwave and fired. The blast caught Soundwave off his pedes, but he raised his arm and blasted another sonic attack at Rampage. Rampage fell into stasis lock as sparks flew from his body.

Dinobot was having his own battles. He managed to defeat Quickstrike in hand-to-hand combat, and now he was battling Megatron. He had used up all his weapons, and was pummeling Megatron with a club, but the tyrannosaurus had gripped Dinobot's neck with his tail as the tyrant laughed. "Ah Dinobot. Did you think that you could defeat me? A weak Maximal like you against a trans-metal? What makes you think that you could win against such odds?" said Megatron. Dinobot looked at Megatron straight into his optics, then said "It's because I have help from a friend." Suddenly, both Terrorsaur and Scorponok were sent in screaming as they crashed into the ground. The wounds inflicted onto their bodies indicated a heavy weapon had damaged them. The ground shook as large footsteps were heard, and a shadow covered Megatron. Megatron turned around, and looked up, and he saw Soundwave with a dark matter morning star. Soundwave glared down at Megatron, as Megatron ground his teeth and said "So, Soundwave. We meet at last in our true forms. But, the odds are in my favor" as he pointed to a sapien bound in energon binds. "Make one step, and the human goes offli-ACK!" said Megatron as Dinobot head-butted him. Megatron gripped his head, before Dinobot began punching him.

A tentacle then picked up Dinobot and moved him away from Megatron, before Soundwave hit the Predacon hard with the morning star. This knocked out the tyrannosaurus. The energon binds on the sapien dimmed, and then the human ran off. Soundwave looked down at Dinobot and said "We did it. We managed to stop Megatron's plans for now." A few jet engines caught his attention, and the satellite turned his head and saw the other Maximals coming. He then looked down at Dinobot and said "Looks like that I have to be going. Don't tell anyone of what you saw" before he transformed into his spacecraft mode and flew away. Dinobot could only stare at the Decepticon, then turned around as he saw Optimus and the others land. Optimus looked around, and then said "Dinobot, what happened?" Dinobot looked at his leader and said "There is nothing to say. A great battle was fought here, but the Predacons lost." "Nothing to say? Well, something came down here, and kicked all of the Predacon's keisters to Kingdom Come! Something had to reduce them to scrap metal!" said Rattrap. Dinobot then looked away, and said "Like I said, there is nothing to say. I just had help from…a friend."

Just outside the valley, Soundwave was watching and listening to the Maximals. If he was in his robot form, you could tell that he was smiling. _Despite your small size, Dinobot, you're one of the greatest warriors that I know of. I know that you'll meet me again in my robot form_ thought Soundwave before he turned around and flew off.


	9. You're Really Who?

_I do not own Transformers._

A few days later, Soundwave was floating in space, keeping a close optic on the migrating sapien tribes as they left the canyon. His super sensitive sensors detected an unusual ship flying towards Earth. Cloaking himself in dark matter, Soundwave tracked the ship heading towards the Maximal base. Deciding to investigate, he transformed into his spacecraft mode and flew after the stealthy ship.

From above, Soundwave watched the ship blast at the Predacons attacking the Maximal base, then saw the ship undo its cloaking shield and land. Hovering closer to the ground, Soundwave extended a few tentacles to do a scout patrol at all angles. A tentacle narrowed its camera optic as it detected the Axalon opening up a hull door, but no one was there on normal visual. Trying several frequency visions, Soundwave soon spotted a panther-like transformer at the hull door. Faster than the eye could blink, Soundwave was on top of the Axalon, with a few tentacles descending into the Axalon, and one staring at the panther.

"What do you think it is, Big Bot?" asked Cheetor. "Not what, who" said Optimus "After the Great War, several Decepticons were granted amnesty. Most have retired, but rumor had it that one was reprogramed and rebuilt as a Predacon." "Well, at least we have our old buddy Star here…even though I wished that it would be around more often like WHEN WE REALLY NEEDED HIM!" said Rattrap as he glared at a tentacle. The tentacle narrowed its optic at Rattrap, before the invisible entity shot at the Maximal's weapons, disarming them.

The panther then undid his cloaking device on him as he jumped down, laughing. "Ravage" said Optimus. All tentacles redirected their attention at Ravage as Soundwave thought _Ravage? You mean...my daughter's counterpart in this world is a mech? So, where is my counterpart?_ Ravage laughed again, and then said "You will pardon my shooting of the weapons from your hands. I only wish to avoid any regrettable accidents to my person" as he put away his guns. _I hope that my daughter gets to be an expert marks-mech when she grows up…when I find her_ thought Soundwave. "Yeah, well next time, try the front door" said Rattrap. "Rattrap, please" said Optimus. "Please? The only worse than a stinkin' Pred is a stinkin' Decepticon" said Rattrap. A tentacle refocused on Rattrap and said _"Will you shut up, you sorry excuse for a scraplet?"_ Ravage looked at the tentacles and said "Soundwave, is that you?" All tentacles refocused on Ravage, then looked at each other as they trembled.

All the Maximals were shocked (except for Dinobot and Tigatron) as they looked at the tentacles. They were all silent, before Rattrap said "You mean that all this time that we were on this planet, we were helped by one of the most deadliest Decepticons in the Beast Wars?" The tentacles remained silent, before Soundwave sighed and said _"Yes, you were. I just kept my identity a secret all this time. Only Dinobot and Tigatron know that my real name is Soundwave. But, I am not the Soundwave from this dimension. I came here by accident, and for the last few deca-cycles, I am trapped in this universe for now. I was afraid that you all wouldn't trust me if I told you who I was."_ Optimus glared at the tentacles, then said "We'll discuss this later, but for now, I want to know why Ravage is here" as he looked back at Ravage.

"Ah yes. The reason that I am here is because of Megatron. The Maximals unfortunately didn't detect the transwarp signal because it was too weak, but our Predacon satellites picked it up before it faded. Though, some of you I wasn't expecting to look so different" said Ravage as he looked at the Transmetals and Fuzors. "Well, we had some times that were interesting" said Optimus as he folded his arms.

It wasn't very long until the Maximals all boarded Ravage's ship and it took off and headed towards the Predacon base. Soundwave followed behind the ship, thinking of what to say to Optimus. He wasn't too thrilled that the Maximal leader had found out his identity so soon, and wanted answers.

He watched the ship cloak itself to invisibility, but Soundwave continued to trail them. _Wish that the Nemesis could cloak itself like that. That would have been a huge advantage during the war_ thought Soundwave. When it was above the Predacon base, it lost its invisibility and dropped the Maximals. The Maximals soon found themselves in combat with the Predacons. Terrorsaur, Scorponok, and Waspinator were in an aerial dogfight with Soundwave. They all blasted at him, then Soundwave thought _My turn_ as dark matter spheres materialized and were shot back at the Predacons. They all fell out of the sky, and hit the ground hard. Returning his attention to the Darkside, Soundwave produced dark matter spears and opened fire on the ship. Soon, the battle was over. _This seemed a little too easy_ thought Soundwave. He had a feeling that this was only the beginning.

Later, with Optimus inside the Axalon and a tentacle before his desk, Soundwave waited for the Maximal to speak. "Soundwave, I am disappointed to learn that you were a Decepticon all this time. You kept your true identity a secret, and you only told Dinobot and Tigatron who you were? With Waspinator possessed by Starscream's spark, the Predacons know who you are. They know everything about you, and we knew nothing of you" said Optimus. He then turned and looked at the tentacle, saying "You have placed this whole operation in more danger than you realized. I don't know if I can even trust you anymore. Do you have anything to say for yourself?" The tentacle remained silent, then shook to indicate "no." Optimus turned around and said "Then, get out of my sight." The tentacle sighed, and then withdrew back to Soundwave. He levitated up, and then flew off into the distance.

He arrived at Ravage's ship, and hacked himself into the ship's surveillance systems and listened in to both Ravage's and Megatron's conversation.

"So, the Tri-Predacus council still smooches the skidplates of the Maximal Elders. Is it any wonder that I rebelled?"

"The Predacons will have their moment, but you (laughs). I served under the original Megatron. You have his name, but not his army"

_Not to mention on how big Megatron's ego can be at times_ thought Soundwave as he continued to listen in.

"Hmm, perhaps, but what does it matter if your ship is too energon-depleted by battle to return to Cybertron?"

"The Maximals…"

"Have nothing! They were expecting rescue. I, on the other hand, have a secret store of energon cubes. Yes, release me and it is yours."

"I think that I will take it anyway."

_Right on, Ravage! Prove to me that you're worthy of being my alternate's deployer…or, whatever you are_ thought Soundwave.

"Its location is encrypted. And my minions have fled."

_Correction: It was encrypted, but I have long since decoded it. Primus, are your defenses weak Megatron. Raf could have decoded it blindfolded_.

"Remember the defense shut down that triggered your capture?"

"Yes, how did you…?"

"Permit me to introduce Lieutenant Tarantulus of the Predacon Secret Police."

"A mole within my whole organization all this time. And I never suspected."

"Energon cache located, covert agent Ravage" said Tarantulus.

"I'll have the Maximals retrieve it right away."

"Yes, you do that."

_I don't like the way that he said that_ thought Soundwave _And what's up with the Predacons trusting Tarantulus? Something's wrong with him. I don't trust that spider with being a Predacon. He seems…darker than a normal Predacon from what I've learned._

Soundwave waited, and then picked up a conversation between Optimus and Ravage about the energon being a trap. Ravage walked back to Megatron and said "So, it was a trap."

"Oh, really?" said Megatron.

"You are a piece of work" said Ravage before he looked up and said "Soundwave, I need you to destroy Megatron. I know that you've been listening to our conversation the whole time." _Scrap! How did he know that? I must be losing my touch_ thought Soundwave before a few tentacles overrode a few hull doors, then entered the ship.

The tentacles all focused on Megatron, ready to strike at a moment's notice. "Even at present, you still operate your own agenda" said Ravage as he walked up to Megatron's cell. "I am not naïve. You had no intention of returning me or any of us to Cybertron alive" said Megatron. _Yep, the Predacons still have a few Decepticon traits_ thought Soundwave to himself. "That is true. But your crew is scattered, and Soundwave here is a master at keeping secrets" said Ravage as he patted a tentacle. "Still, why should I tolerate your existence any longer?" asked the cassetticon. Megatron laughed, and then said "Did you ever wonder why I stole the golden disk in the first place?"

"_I know why. It's so you could control the future of Earth, and tip the war between the Autobots and Decepticons in the favor of your ancestors"_ replied Soundwave. "Nothing does get past you, does it Soundwave? And, since our battle between my army and yourself and Dinobot, the Golden Disk went missing. You fled from battle before the other Maximals arrived, so I put two and two together, and you're the one who took it. Since you were Megatron's most trusted spy at one point, I've take it that you've decoded the original Megatron's secret message" replied the tyrannosaurus.

"Megatron's secret message?" asked Ravage as he looked at the tentacle. The tentacle looked at Ravage and said _"That is true. The Megatron from the past did leave a message onto it, and I have decoded it."_ "I would like to see this message, Soundwave" said Ravage. _"Of course"_ replied the satellite as he played the message.

Megatron appeared (on a hologram) and gave his message of failing, but wanted the Decepticon's descendants to continue the war and alter the timeline so the Decepticons could win. Ravage was impressed, then was about to release Megatron from his cell, when Soundwave said _"Ravage, I think that we should have a conversation in private about the disk. I don't trust this Megatron to listen in."_ "Of course, Soundwave" said Ravage as he led the tentacle away from Megatron.

They were in the cockpit as Ravage stared at the tentacle and said "So speak. What is of great importance that makes you not trust Megatron?" _"I have been monitoring both the Maximals and Predacons for several months, and their existence is already threatening the timeline of Earth. This Megatron is a fool. I have seen him and his minions try to utilize several weapons of the Vok to try to win the war against the Maximals. They don't know of what they're doing. Many times, they've almost destroyed themselves with these weapons. I think that this Megatron should be destroyed, and as for the Maximals…I'll even help you conquer Cybertron. I have seen some harsh misjudgment against some Decepticons, even though they're trying to forget the past and are asking for forgiveness. I can understand that the Maximals are executing a harsh control against all Predacons, even though you just want your rights just to be heard. Forget about changing the timeline, Ravage, and just go on home back to Cybertron. Forget about ancient Earth"_ said Soundwave. Ravage just shook his head and said "You were always so blindly loyal to the original Megatron, that you couldn't see a better ruler take over the Decepticons. You always wanted him to lead, and not some other. Sometimes, Starscream could have been a better ruler, or some of the other generals. Being with the Maximals has even made you blinder to winning the war for the Predacons." With that, Ravage got up and headed for Megatron's cell. The tentacle watched Ravage leave as he thought _I'm just looking out for you, Ravage. Even though you are not my sparkling, I just want you to be safe. I want to avoid what happened to Cybertron from my dimension._

Soundwave soon withdrew his tentacles, and then flew off into the sky. He wanted nothing to do with this Megatron and his plans for winning the war; he just wanted to make sure that he followed the Vok's orders to keep the timeline of this planet safe. He was about to fly higher when some sort of goo was latched onto his armor before it erupted into flames. Soundwave screamed in pain before he nosedived as fast as he could for the waterfall by the Maximal base. He submerged, cooling off his armor. He extended two tentacles as periscopes to view the situation.

"Terrorsaur, Terrorize!" cawed Terrorsaur before he transformed, followed by "Scorponok, Terrorize!" as the scorpion transformed as well. _Two can play at this_ thought Soundwave before his tentacles submerged, then sent a barrage of javelins at Terrorsaur and Scorponok. Levitating from the water, Soundwave thought to himself _Query: Don't they know better than to attack a powerful Decepticon?_

A massive blast came from the Maximal base, followed by a shockwave of power. Inside the base, Rhinox said "Shields won't take that for long." "Just so it's for long enough. Where is mountainback when you really need him?" said Rattrap as he pressed a few buttons, and his bombs dropped down on a wall from above. He had a plan to attack the Predacons.

Outside the base, Soundwave flew up and watched the battle. He watched Ravage's ship turn around for another counterattack when the Maximal's shields went down, and Rattrap launched himself from the base to the stealth ship. _Query: What does Rattrap think that he's doing?_ thought Soundwave before a blast knocked him from orbit. "Ha ha ha! Looks like you're not as strong as you once were Soundwave" laughed Starscream in Waspinator's body.

The two began a dogfight with Waspinator firing null rays at Soundwave, and the spacecraft returning fire with ultrasonic blasts. Increasing speed, Soundwave flew up with Waspinator trailing him, but in the climb, the spacecraft did an arch, and blasted Waspinator from the back. "Noooooo!" screamed Starscream as he fell to the earth. A blast caught Soundwave's attention as he looked down and saw Ravage's ship blowing up. _"RAVAGE!" _screamed Soundwave as he flew to the flaming ship.

Ravage managed to see a wall of flame shooting towards him as he put a fist in the air and said "Decepticons foreve-AH!" as a tentacle rammed its way through the glass and pulled out Ravage before it chucked him in the air. "Soundwave, what in that wacked-out processor of yours were you thinking?" shouted Rattrap to the spacecraft. _"Response: I was only trying to save Ravage's life…and yours"_ said Soundwave before he grabbed Rattrap and chucked him into the air as well.

With the ship getting closer to the ground, Soundwave transformed into his robot mode and tried to stop the ship, but the force was too much for him as it reeled him backwards and pinned him into a rocky wall. The impact had managed to rip off several pieces of Soundwave's plating, before he screamed as a blast blew through his back and chassis. Rampage crawled through the hole in Soundwave as he aimed his pulse rifle at Soundwave's helm. Rampage laughed, before an armed missile on Ravage's ship detonated.

Optimus, Rhinox, Cheetor, Airazor, Dinobot, and Tigatron watched the ship crash, before Ravage landed in Optimus' arms and Rattrap landed in Rhinox's arms. "My hero" said Rattrap as he kissed Rhinox, as the rhino said "Oh, get down!" before dropping Rattrap. Ravage looked at Optimus and said "We don't have to do that, right?" A sudden blast caught their attention as Ravage widened his optics as he saw his ship blow up and…

"SOUNDWAVE! NO!" screamed Ravage as he jumped down from Optimus' arms and ran toward the ship and fallen Decepticon. A gigantic arm landed in front of him, as Ravage lost all strength in his legs as he said "Soundwave…" before he broke down crying. He was too deep in grief to hear the footsteps behind him, but then Optimus said "Ravage, perhaps you would like to tell us why you turned against us?" Ravage looked up at Optimus with tears staining his faceplates and said "Soundwave warned me to not to trust Megatron…" before he stopped and his optics narrowed in range before he sent a fist to hit the ground and snarled "He warned me to not release Megatron, and to leave the timeline alone! While aboard my ship, Soundwave told me that he knew Megatron's real reason for coming to this planet. He knew that Megatron wanted to alter the timeline so the Decepticons could win the Great War. I didn't know why he warned me to not to listen to Megatron back aboard the ship, but I know now: it was to keep me and himself safe. He even said that he would help us Predacons conquer Cybertron if we just left the timeline alone. But" he said as he looked down "I didn't listen. My decision to not listen to him got him killed. He's gone. I killed Soundwave."

The Maximals remained silent before they looked up and saw Megatron flying away. Optimus narrowed his optics then turned to his team and said "Tigatron, you stay here with Ravage and keep an optic on him. The rest of you will come with me and follow Megatron." "Please Optimus, let me come with you; I know where he's going" said Ravage. Optimus looked at Ravage and said "No. You're in no mood to battle. Letting rage and sadness blind you in battle will only get yourself killed. Soundwave's death would have been in vain if you came with us."

About ten cycles had passed since the Maximals left, leaving only Tigatron and Ravage. A garbled cry caught their attention, as scraping metal echoed across the canyon. Ravage saw a mass of twisted and burnt metal coming towards them, as the mass let off another cry of pain. "Soundwave?" said Ravage before a tentacle shot out and grabbed the arm before them, and it reeled back towards the mass. A black shroud came out of the body, covering the mass as silence enveloped the canyon again.

_A dream formed within the mist, and a Chinese dragon-like femme appeared. "Grandpa?" she asked. "Pulse…?" said Soundwave weakly. A servo cupped his cheek as her antlers moved and her optic softened (her equivalent of a smile.) "Grandpa, it is time for you to wake up. Time itself will be erased if Megatron has his way. The Autobots need you to stop Megatron from disrupting time itself" said Pulse. She began to fade as darkness overcame Soundwave's sight. "Pulse?" said Soundwave before he too blacked out._

"YAAAAAHHHHHHH!" screamed Soundwave as he woke up, sending his dark energy mists in all directions. Unfortunately, the mists hit Ravage and Tigatron, knocking them over. Soundwave put a servo to his helm as his optics widened in fear. _Time itself will be erased if Megatron has his way_ echoed Pulse's voice in Soundwave's processor. "Soundwave? What happened?" asked Tigatron as he approached the satellite. Soundwave continued to breathe in deeply and exhale before he said "I had a nightmare…we have to find Megatron before…"

He didn't get to finish his sentence before a huge twister of light shot up from the earth, and a massive windstorm caught Soundwave, Tigatron, and Ravage within it. "What is going on?" yelled Tigatron. "Looks like Megatron has finally disrupted time!" shouted back Ravage. Soundwave narrowed his optics, then transformed into his spacecraft mode and grabbed the two cats with his tentacles. _"Hang on!"_ shouted Soundwave before he sped to where the eye of the time storm was. He hoped that he would get there in time before it was too late.

Megatron was laughing at the epicenter of the time storm as he said "Farewell, Maximals. With the destruction of Optimus Prime, the Decepticons and Predacons take their rightful place as rulers of Cybertron. I, Megatron, have triumphed! Yes." _"Not if I can stop it!"_ screamed Soundwave as he rammed into Megatron at full force. The impact sent Megatron flying into the ship.

The tyrant tried getting to his feet, but one of the tentacle's heads began drilling into his chassis. "Soundwave, I've just had about enough of you" snarled Megatron before he fired his energy cutlass from his tail, blowing up one of the tentacles. Soundwave screamed, before Megatron began blasting away at the spacecraft.

While the two fought, Tigatron and Ravage tried to get to their feet (the force of Soundwave ramming Megatron had knocked both of them off of the spacecraft.) The both of them noticed Blackarachnia and Silverbolt heading inside the ship, and the two followed. While the two cats headed inside, the time storm began stabilizing, and they saw the inside of the Ark, with both Autobots and Decepticons in stasis lock. Cheetor, Rattrap, Dinobot, Airazor, Rhinox, and Optimus Primal flew above them towards the chair in front of the ship. Tigatron and Ravage hurried along, and they saw the legendary Optimus Prime, but with a severely damaged head.

"He's our ancestor; we've got to get him repaired, or we're goners" said Cheetor. Ravage held up his laser guns and said "I'm sorry, but I can't allow that. With Optimus offline, I ensure the existence of the Decepticons in the future" as he aimed at Optimus Prime. A blast from behind Ravage sent him flying into the base of the chair where Optimus was sitting, knocking out the Decepticon. "Not while I'm online" said Tigatron. "Good work, Tigatron. Now, let's repair Optimus before it's too late" said Rhinox as both he and Blackarachnia began punching in commands to repair Optimus' head.

While the Maximals were repairing Optimus, Soundwave continued to fight Megatron outside the Ark. The tyrannosaurus flew ahead of Soundwave, while the Decepticon tried to keep up. _"Warning: Systems falling to below 5% power. Stasis lock imminent"_ read Soundwave's systems. Megatron tried to fly as fast as he could to outrace the spacecraft, but Soundwave was catching up. "Attention all Predacons. The situation has altered. Pull yourselves together, and meet me at the following coordinates" said Megatron thought the comm-link as he climbed up in altitude. Soundwave continued to pursue him, climbing in altitude until they were a few miles above the Earth's surface when Soundwave's systems read _"Warning: Energy has dropped to below 1%. Stasis lock beginning in 10…"_

"_NO!"_ screamed Soundwave.

"_9…"_

_I can't let him escape!_ thought Soundwave.

"_8…"_

"Looks like you've failed, Soundwave" said Megatron.

"_7…"_

"With you out of the way, Optimus is going offline."

"_6…"_

"And we'll defeat the Maximals once and for all."

"_5…"_

"At last, I am triumphant!"

"_4…"_

"The Beast Wars is over, Soundwave."

"_3…"_

"I win!"

"_2…"_

"You lose!"

"_1…Stasis lock starting."_

Soundwave felt all of his systems go offline, as his engines fail and his energy dropped. His optics forced themselves closed as his power stopped flowing through his systems, and he began free-falling to the Earth.

Gravity took hold of Soundwave's body as he pummeled to the ground below, his body bouncing from the earth before it crash-landed into the very mountain where the Ark rested. His body armor tore from his vehicle mode from the impact to Earth, sending his space armor and a few gears and wires scattering all over the mountain. A few of his systems were heavily damaged from the impact, making his body venerable to all sorts of dangers.

Megatron managed to fly down from his position in the sky, and he laughed at Soundwave's weakened state. "With you out of the picture, there is no way that the Maximals can stop me. But, first thing's first; I'll offline the mighty Optimus Prime, and then I'll deal with you" said Megatron before he flew inside of the volcano. What he wasn't expecting was a new Optimus Primal: Optimal Optimus.

_Author's Note: Even though Soundwave came from a different dimension, he still views the G1 Ravage as his very own. And, since Ravage knows that this Soundwave came from a parallel universe, he still respects him as if he were his own Soundwave._

_Surprising that Ravage revealed Soundwave's secret, huh?_


	10. Cyber Raptor Hunt

_I do not own Transformers._

A few days after the time storm, the Maximals were settling in the volcano, and were trying to bring several systems online, but they had problems. "Slag" said Rhinox as the computer screens went fuzzy. "How soon before we're operational?" asked Optimus. "With nothing to work with but salvaged parts?" asked Rhinox as he looked at his leader "I'm making no promises." "Rhinox" said Optimal Optimus "We have to hold the line as long as we can. But if the Maximal elders don't send a rescue ship soon, we may have to change our strategy."

Rhinox tried to punch in a few more commands, but only sparks flew. "If the Maximal elders were going to send a ship, it would have been here by now. You know that" said Rhinox as he got up and walked to Optimus. "I'm not sure what I know anymore, old friend. None of us are quite who we were when we began this war. And neither is our universe" said Optimus. Rhinox then looked at Optimus and said "I'm going to ask Ravage if Soundwave is back online. As much as I have lost his trust in learning that he was a Decepticon, we'll still need his help if we're going to be operational."

Ravage was on the side of the mountain, repairing Soundwave's armor when Rhinox approached him. "Is he back online?" asked Rhinox. Ravage looked at Rhinox and shook his head. "Soundwave here has sustained massive damage. He needs professional help if he is to get back online, or…" Ravage fell silent, before he began speaking again "This Soundwave is far beyond any Cybertronian design that I have ever seen. This one makes my Soundwave look like obsolete technology. His spark is still online, but that's the only good news that I can give. I'm not sure if he will ever emerge from stasis lock." Rhinox looked at the spacecraft and said "I've heard that your Soundwave was ruthless, but this one seemed kind of distant, yet friendly. Still, none of us trusted him when we first saw him, and most of us still don't" before he turned and headed back for the base. Ravage watched him leave, then turned back to Soundwave and said "I still don't care if you're not my Soundwave; I still respect you just the same."

Over a week has passed since the conversation with Rhinox, and there wasn't much progress in Soundwave's recovery. Ravage managed to patch up his body armor, but his internal structure and most of the circuitry was very different than from what the cassetticon was used to. "Yo, pussycat!" called out Rattrap as he approached Ravage. "What is it, mouse toy?" asked Ravage without looking up from Soundwave. "Is mountainback doing any better?" replied Rattrap. Ravage turned and looked at Rattrap and said "About the only thing that has changed with him is that his power levels are only slightly rising, but he is still in stasis. At his rate, he'll be at full power in about two meta-cycles." "By that time, the Beast Wars would be over. Is there anything else that can wake him up faster!" said Rattrap. "Lots of energon but with Earth's levels, I don't think that there is even enough to wake him up, much less get him fully recovered" said Ravage.

As the two argued, Soundwave's armor continued to absorb solar energy. His internal systems read _"Power levels at minimum for onlining. Online starts in five…four…three…two…one…"_ A low rumbling came from Soundwave as some of his systems came online. The low rumbling caught both Rattrap and Ravage's attention, as Soundwave said weakly _"Oooooh…my aching processor…what happened?"_ "Megatron knows that the Ark is here, and he's been coming every day to try to destroy the Autobots. That's what happened" said Rattrap. _Great, the first think that I hear is Rattrap's whining. What a great way to online_ thought Soundwave sarcastically. "We need you to help hook up Teletraan-1 to our Maximal computers so we can help keep the Preds out of the base. Can you do that?" said Rattrap. _"Answer: I need to see both systems first before I can even uplink the both of them"_ said Soundwave before he extended several of his tentacles, and then began dragging himself towards the entrance of the cave. "Hey mountainback! Wouldn't it be a lot easier for you to fly to the base?" said Rattrap. _"Answer: My energy levels are too depleted to even attempt flight, much less complex self-repairs"_ said Soundwave as he continued to drag himself across the earth.

"_There, almost…Done!"_ said Soundwave after he hooked up Teletraan-1 to the Maximal's computers, generating a protective force-field at the doors guarding the cave. The whole process took two weeks for Soundwave to finish, but he managed to link both computer systems to work in sync. "Took you long enough" said Rattrap. A tentacle turned and looked at Rattrap and narrowed its camera optic. _"You do realize that both of these computer systems are hard to link up"_ replied Soundwave. "Why, I outta…" said Rattrap before the doors opened, and Optimal Optimus flew in with Silverbolt and two sapiens. "Aww, what is this? A Daycare center? What are these humans doing here?" asked Rattrap. "These are some humans that were attacked by this creature" said Optimus as he held up a cyborg raptor. Its dead body hung from Optimus' fingertips. _"What the Pit is that?"_ asked Soundwave. "I don't know, but we need Rattrap and Rhinox to run some scans on it" said Optimus as he walked further into the base.

Soundwave sighed, and then looked at the two kids. The female was poking at some of the more luminous lights on Soundwave, while the boy was swinging from one of his tentacles. He chuckled and then said to the two of them _"You two remind me of my own sparklings."_

Later, while Soundwave was basking outside to absorb more solar energy, he saw the two humans, Cheetor, Blackarachnia, Dinobot, and Tigatron leave the base. _"Query: Going on a family picnic?"_ Soundwave sarcastically asked. "No, tentacle belly, we're leading the humans back home" said Blackarachnia. "What I wouldn't do to not go on this trip" snarled Dinobot as he walked with the group. Soundwave gave himself an internal smirk, and then resumed sunbathing. His energy levels were rising due to the clear skies on that particular day.

He was enjoying the solar energy for the next several hours, when Optimus and Silverbolt flew out. "Soundwave, I need you to help Rhinox, Airazor, and Rattrap check the base's defenses" said Optimal Optimus. _"Of course"_ said Soundwave as he began dragging himself inside the cave. Outside, the Predacons were waiting for just the right moment to attack the base.

"_Query: How are the base's defenses?"_ asked Soundwave. "Pretty good, thanks to Teletraan-1" said Rhinox. "Yeah, but we do have to up our guard, since Ravage has been trying to offline Optimus Prime a few times, but…" said Rattrap before they heard a scream, and saw Ravage fly across the cave and hit a wall "Teletraan-1 does provide us a little entertainment with the Decepticon." _"I'll talk with him"_ said Soundwave as he extended a tentacle to Ravage.

Ravage was plastered against the wall, when the tentacle looked at him and said _"Query: Ravage, why are you trying to offline the Autobots?"_ Ravage moaned, shook his head, then said "It's because both I and the other Decepticons lost the Great War. I was just trying to even out the odds in our favor." _"Ravage, we'll talk more about this in private. I want to have a word with you…alone"_ said Soundwave before they all felt a blast rock the cave. "Looks like the Predacons are back" said Rhinox.

He ran up to a console, and punched in a few commands, saying "Auto guns, online." Soundwave turned a tentacle to watch Rhinox crouch behind a boulder, then turned the tentacle back to Ravage and said _"We're needed to guard the base."_ He then recoiled the tentacles, and dragged himself into a better position to attack. "Looks like we're gonna get to do a little bit slaggin' after all" chucked Rattrap. A few blasts came from Megatron's plasma gun, and Rhinox said "Looks like that we don't have a choice." Rhinox, Rattrap, Airazor, Soundwave, and Ravage then began blasting away at the Predacons (well, Soundwave was actually chucking stones at the Predacons; showering them with a rockslide.)

"We're gonna need the big guy here" said Rattrap before he began doing a comm link to Optimal Optimus. "Rattrap to Optimus, I'd hate to interrupt your picnic, but we've got big Pred problems" said Rattrap as he ran from his position with Rhinox and Ravage, and hid behind some storage crates. Soundwave, on the other hand, was moving his tentacles as much as he could, loosening as many stones from the ceiling as he could. _"Just hang on, Rattrap"_ said Optimus through the link _"You, Rhinox, Airazor, and Soundwave are our last hope." "That, I didn't want to hear"_ said Soundwave as a tentacle lowered and looked at Rattrap. _"Defend the…defend the…"_ said Optimus before he sang _"There he is, my little guyyyyy, there he is, my little guyyyyy, isn't he cute?"_ "That's not what I wanted to hear" said Rattrap. Soundwave's tentacle widened its optic as much as it could, then he said _"What the frag was that all about?"_ "I have no idea, but it sounds like they're having as much trouble as we are" said Rattrap.

A loud blast caught their attention, and they all looked up as Rattrap said "Uh-oh." Airazor and Rhinox then resumed their positions blasting at the oncoming Predacons, but Megatron and Scorponok blasted them back. "Oh boy" said Rattrap. They heard Megatron snarl, then he said "Inferno, Rampage, Scorponok, prepare to take hostages. The Ark is ours…Aaaahhaaa!" Just then, a flying transmetal manta ray flew in, and transformed. He then began blasting away at the Predacons, and Soundwave asked _"Query: Just who the Pit is that guy?"_ "That's Depth Charge. He's got a grudge against Rampage" said Rattrap before he, Rhinox, Airazor, and Ravage began blasting away at the other Predacons. "Predacons, retreat!" exclaimed Megatron before he and the others flew and drove away. Depth Charge then turned around and said "Big Preds are my specialty." _Ok, that guy is cool_ thought Soundwave. "Not too shabby" said Rhinox. "Eh, still smells like fish" said Rattrap as Depth Charge glared at the rodent.

_Author's note: For those of you wondering, Soundwave's dark energy and dark matter powers do take a toll on his body, hence the long recharges. By the way, I think that Depth Charge is awesome!_


	11. Enter the Cheetah

_I do not own Transformers._

Much later (after the humans were returned home, and the other Maximals came back to base), Soundwave had progressed in his recovery. He had enough power to fly, and do some energon scouting. He floated past Rhinox and said _"I'm off to do a little energon scouting, Rhinox. I probably won't be back for several days. I'll keep in contact with the base if I happen to find a large energon store."_ "Oh, no. Not in your state. You still look as badly damaged as the first day that you crash-landed on this volcano. If you go into stasis lock out there, we won't be able to find you" said Rhinox. "I'll go with him" said Tigatron in his bipedal state. "Fine, but contact us the moment any problems arise. It's hard enough to keep tabs on everybody with Megatron putting up all of his jamming stations" said Rhinox. Tigatron was picked up by a tentacle, and placed on Soundwave's back before the spacecraft flew off.

Later that evening, a thunderstorm came up, and a blip appeared on the radar screen. "A stasis pod? Optimus, we've got a stasis pod landing in the Idlex Quadrant" said Rhinox. "I'll go with Cheetor" said Optimus as he headed out of the base.

A few hours went by, and both Soundwave and Tigatron returned. They saw both Optimus and Rhinox with grave looks on their faceplates, so Soundwave stopped in front of them and asked _"Query: What happened? What's with the sad faceplates?"_ "It's Cheetor. He went offline, and it's all my fault. He tried to prove himself in battle today, because I went a little too hard on him earlier" said Optimus. "Little cat…" said Tigatron in shock. "Don't give up hope; I'll try to get the long range scanners online. Soundwave, I'm going to need your help in trying to find Cheetor. We'll need Tigatron's help as well" said Rhinox as he headed inside. _"I'll need the location where he was last sighted, Rhinox. I'll be able to scan out from there, and Tigatron can handle ground cover"_ said Soundwave.

Later that night, Optimus was scanning the area where Cheetor disappeared. He said through his comm link "Optimus to Rhinox: I couldn't locate Cheetor or the new Dinobot. Tigatron and Soundwave have not reported finding either of them." An echoing roar caught Optimus' attention, and then he transformed.

The roar caught Soundwave's attention as well. _Baby Ravage?_ he thought as he flew in the direction where the roar came from. He needed to know if that roar was his daughter's roar.

Depth Charge found himself alone in the mountains. Some sort of cat-like creature had beaten up the Predacons badly, leaving the trans-metal manta ray alone with it. A loud roar was heard, and then the cat appeared. It prowled around Depth Charge, before a voice said _"Ravage? Is that you? Ravage? Don't you remember me? It's your Sire!"_ The cat-like beast looked at Soundwave, and then roared at him. One of the tentacles had shown its spotlight on the cat, before the creature ran off. Depth Charge watched the cat run off, then turned and looked at Soundwave and said "Ravage? Wasn't he at base?" _"Well, there's another Ravage running around somewhere on this planet. She's a femme, and she's roughly the same size of that cat-like creature that ran off, but I was mistaken. My Ravage has fur that is as black as midnight, but that thing had spots on its structure. I was mistaken. By the way, what happened?"_ asked Soundwave. "That Dinobot clone attacked me, and when I woke up, I was bound to this tree. Megatron, Quickstrike, and Protoform X were here as well, but that thing turned all four of them into scrap metal" said Depth Charge. The roar of jets caught their attention, and Optimal Optimus landed by them. The creature growled at them, and Optimus narrowed his optics at the thing before it ran off. Soundwave returned his attention to the other two and said _"I have to go find Tigatron. I'm not leaving him here with that thing running around."_ Without another word, the spacecraft left.

Tigatron was filled in by both Soundwave and Depth Charge about the creature roaming the rocky terrain. He was deep in thought as he stared at the sky outside the base. _"Tigatron, I know that something is on your processor. What is it?"_ asked Soundwave. Tigatron looked at him, and then said "It's that creature that you, Optimus, and Depth Charge saw. It appeared after Cheetor disappeared, and no one has seen little cat since." _"You're not…but how?"_ asked Soundwave. "I don't know, but I'm going to need your help in finding that other creature" said Tigatron. Suddenly, the alarms of the base went on, and Tigatron and Soundwave looked at the bot that was approaching the base. Cheetor limped in, and then fell. "Little cat?" said Tigatron. "Cheetor!" said Optimus when he first saw Cheetor, then approached the fallen cat-bot. "Cheetor?" asked Optimus again.

Later that night, Cheetor was asleep in his room. Tigatron was with Soundwave out by the control center, and Tigatron was worried. They were watching the video cameras with Rattrap, and then Optimus came up. "Hey Optimus, how's our boy?" asked Rattrap. "Finally asleep, despite the damage. I don't understand why he won't use the CR chamber" said Optimus. "Well, maybe he's trying to prove something" said Rattrap. "I don't think that's why" said Tigatron "I think that it is because of something else." "What about the scan report?" asked Optimus. "All grids quiet" said Rattrap. "Well, let's hope that it stays that way. See you in the morning" said Optimus before he left. _"I have to do a little bit of scouting myself for the night. I should be back by dawn"_ said Soundwave before he too left. Tigatron left too, he had to do some thinking that was on his mind. "Quiet enough for a little rat-nap" yawned Rattrap before he slept.

Tigatron was outside of the base, when he saw some sort of creature running out of the cave, and headed for Predacon territory. Tigatron narrowed his optics, and then followed it.

Soundwave was in a canyon, absorbing some of the stabilized energon. He remembered that canyon well since the time that he was teleported aboard the Darkside, but since the transwarp explosion, there were pockets of stabilized energon (the rest had detonated.) _"Systems at 70% power…75%...80%..."_ read his internal scans. A mysterious cat-like creature leapt above the canyon and headed deeper into Predacon territory. Soundwave stopped his feeding, and then chased after that cat. He wanted to learn more about it.

The spacecraft was searching a patch of forest when Tigatron appeared. _"Query: What are you doing here, Tigatron?"_ asked Soundwave. "I saw some…thing leave the base, and I followed him here, but I've lost him. What are you doing here, Soundwave?" asked Tigatron. _"I was feeding off some energon, when I saw some sort of beast run past me, and into Predacon territory. It looked a lot like the creature that I saw prowling near Depth Charge"_ said Soundwave _"I lost track of it when it came into the forest. It could be hiding anywhere in here."_ Tigatron sniffed the ground, and then said "The rain has washed away his scent. I'll scout the area on ground, you'll take to the sky." _"Agreed"_ said Soundwave before he levitated up and landed on a large mountain outpost. _"System repairs activated"_ read his scans before he covered himself in dark matter. _First, I need to do some important repairs to my system in case I run into that thing, or one of the Predacons. I need to be at full health before I engage the search_ thought Soundwave. He still kept his audios tuned at maximum with his radar on. He didn't want to be ambushed while doing internal repairs.

"_Detection of units Waspinator and Protoform X approaching"_ read Soundwave's scanners. His repairs were at 82% completion when he stopped. He extended his tentacles, and watched Waspinator and Dinobot 2 approach a cave that was below his mountain post. "Ooooh, Waspinator detects stink of unnatural Transmetal" said Waspinator as Dinobot 2 growled at him. "Oops, Waspinator exclude present company" said the insect. "I will subdue and retrieve the target" said Dinobot 2 before he transformed into his monstrous robotic mode. _What a freak. He reminds me of one of the Insecticons_ thought Soundwave. He watched Dinobot 2 get closer to the cave before Waspinator flew in front of him and said "Wait! Need plan! Waspinator in charge!" "I am the plan" said Dinobot 2 before he slashed Waspinator into ribbons. _That thing reminds me of a few of Shockwave's old experiments. I wonder how old Shockwave is doing?_ wondered Soundwave as he watched the mutant dinosaur wander into the cave. He heard "Target has fled…for now" before the dinosaur left the cave. _I have to go find Tigatron_ thought Soundwave before he levitated up and flew off.

After much searching, Soundwave found Tigatron. _"Tigatron, I've been looking all over for you. Waspinator and some sort of new clone of Dinobot are looking for the creature that headed into this area"_ said Soundwave. "Then, we must find him before the other two find little cat" said Tigatron. His voice was drowned out on the last part when they saw Optimal Optimus and Transmetal Cheetor flying above them. "Little cat?" said Tigatron before he raced off into the forest, with Soundwave behind him.

They found the two Maximals wondering the forest, when Optimus said "Tigatron, what are you doing here?" "I've been looking for…the creature" said Tigatron "Soundwave has been helping me search for it, but we couldn't find it." Soundwave appeared behind Tigatron, but had his focus on Cheetor. "Aw come on, what's so important about finding this creature? I told Optimus that I destroyed the cyber creature. Doesn't anybody believe me or trust me?" said Cheetor. "Normally, yes" said Optimus "but at the moment, I think that you're hiding something" to Cheetor. "I'm not hiding ANYTHING!" said Cheetor before his eyes glowed an eerily bright green, and some more green light began to slightly mutate him, but stopped. _Riiiiiiiiiiight_ thought Soundwave. "Why is everybody giving me such a hard time?" said Cheetor angrily. "It's because we care, and it's because I think I know the truth" said Optimus. "He's not the only one who might know the truth" said Tigatron as a tentacle of Soundwave's came out and nodded in agreement. "We just want you to trust us enough to tell us" said Optimus. "All right, all right! It's like this" began Cheetor before a few breaking branches caught their attention. A red beam caught their attention before Optimus shouted "Cheetor, look out!" as he pushed the cheetah out of the way, but got hit by Dinobot 2's laser. "Big bot! No!" cried out Cheetor. Tigatron roared, before he transformed and aimed at Dinobot 2. Cheetor roared in pain as his body began to mutate again.

"Cheetor, listen, I'm right here" said Tigatron "Your body is trying to upgrade itself. Don't be afraid of it." Cheetor continued to mutate, until he became Transmetal 2 Cheetor. "Cheetor, watch out for the other bot" said Optimus. "Which bot? Oh, you mean the one right here?" said Cheetor before he blasted away Waspinator. He then turned around and said "You hurt my friend, freakbot" to Dinobot 2 as he came out of the bushes. "Yes, and now, I shall neutralize the three of you" he said to Cheetor, Tigatron, and Soundwave. _"Tigatron, I think that it's best that we let Cheetor handle this. He seems capable of handling him"_ said Soundwave, before Tigatron backed off.

The two transmetals fought each other, and Tigatron, Optimus, and Soundwave watched the battle. Soundwave did a few repairs on the large Maximal as the transmetals fought to the death. Cheetor managed to defeat Dinobot 2, as the dinosaur said "This is not over" before he ran off. Cheetor then refocused his attention on Tigatron, Optimus, and Soundwave before he growled at them and approached. _"Units Silverbolt and Rattrap approaching"_ read Soundwave's scans before the Fuzor and transmetal came within sight. Cheetor growled, and then ran off. Tigatron then transformed, and then ran after the transmetal 2. "What was that?" asked Silverbolt. "That was Cheetor" said Optimus. "Looks like pussycat used up his first life, and now he's on his second" said Rattrap.

A few minutes later, Tigatron came back with Cheetor (both in their robot forms.) "What happened?" asked Silverbolt. "I managed to talk with Cheetor" said Tigatron "He's now in control of both his forms as well as his spark. He had a rough transition between what happened to today, but he's now all right." "You lookin' at somethin'?" said Cheetor to Silverbolt and Rattrap. The two Maximals looked at each other, then back at Cheetor. "Oh joy, cyber-puberty" said Rattrap. _I dread the day that my sparklings hit cyber-puberty…if I can ever get them back_ thought Soundwave.

Later at the base, Soundwave watched Cheetor admiring his new looks. He saw a small confrontation between Blackarachnia and the mech, and Soundwave thought _Yep, definitely it's going to be tough getting my little femmes away from mechs who are too high-charged. I dread when Buzzsaw hits this stage._


	12. Reprogram? Or Malfunction?

_I do not own Transformers._

A few weeks had passed since Cheetor's upgrade, and everything seemed back to normal. Soundwave was having a conversation with Ravage about the Autobots still being online. "But Soundwave, with the Autobots online, the Decepticons will lose the Great War. Surely you could destroy them after the Maximals leave" said Ravage. _"Negative. Offlining Autobots will disrupt the timeline. They must remain online"_ said Soundwave. He was silent for a moment, then said _"However, I can fulfill a request to assist the Decepticons if I should remain online when the Autobots wake up in four million years."_ "Offline Optimus Prime" said Ravage. _"Anything but offlining Autobots"_ said Soundwave. "I thought that you were a Decepticon at spark" said Ravage as he turned away. _"I still am. Though I assist the Maximals, I will still remain a Decepticon. Remaining a Decepticon is my choice, Ravage"_ said Soundwave. Ravage remained silent for a moment, and then said "Well, during the Great War, there were times when we Decepticons could have won, if it weren't for Starscream's interference, Megatron's ego, or if our plans weren't fouled up by the Autobots." He then turned around and said "But, most of all, we had very little energon for the entire army. We could have used some help in harvesting and finding energy resources for energon." _"Now that is something that I can help you with. I have a certain member of my team who specializes in harvesting electricity for energon. She has a built-in Energon Harvester to absorb raw energon crystals, or electricity, and can convert it into energon ready to consume. I can also help out by absorbing solar energy and then transferring the sun's power into energon cubes"_ said Soundwave. "Excellent" said Ravage "The Decepticons would be able to fill out more of their plans with more energon resources, but we also need some plans to be filled out. I happen to remember them all, and our defeat by the Autobots. I can fill you in on how some of our plans could have worked out better if we had some assistance."

"_The Decepticons will have my assistance, but first, we will have this conversation later. Unit Blackarachnia is currently leaving the premises, and unit Dinobot 2 is within the area. I will go out on patrol, and when I return, we can discuss on which plans need my help"_ said Soundwave. Ravage noticed some tentacles watching Blackarachnia leave, then saw Soundwave levitate up and follow her from the sky. _But, to ensure the Decepticon's victory, I will have a little fun offlining the Autobots. Sorry to disappoint you again, Soundwave_ thought Ravage before he left. He had to find a certain spider mech to discuss some plans.

Soundwave watched Dinobot trail Blackarachnia into the forest, and then he saw the dinosaur hiding behind some trees as he watched the spider crawl further into the forest. The spacecraft switched to scanning Cybertronian life forms as he followed Blackarachnia until she came to a river and transformed. Soundwave descended, and then sent out a tentacle. Blackarachnia sighed, and then said "Were you following me the whole time? Looks like the Maximals don't even trust me to go for a walk." _"Actually, I came here on my own free will. Something's bothering you, Blackarachnia. What is it?" _She stared at him, and then said "My future has gotten complicated. Silverbolt is every bad girl's dream, but his Maximal pals would rather slag me than let me be for who I am. The gig is over for me." The tentacle shook no, then Soundwave said _"That doesn't sound like too much of the Autobot's policies…or, at least the ones that I'm used to. I left the Decepticons because of… some personal reasons, but the Autobots let me remain for who I was. Sure, they didn't trust me a lot, but they let me remain a Decepticon at spark. We could talk this over with Optimal Optimus to prevent you from being reprogrammed, and I'll back you up."_ "Keep dreaming, mountainback. The Maximals haven't trusted you entirely either, but with your complicated systems, they don't know how to reprogram you. For me, it's easy for them because I was once a Maximal protoform. Dinobot has been there the longest, but the Maximals trust him more than me because of his code of honor that he has. And speaking of Dinobot, looks like his clone is running around" said Blackarachnia as she saw the Transmetal 2 wandering the forest. "Perfect for me to blow off some steam" she said before she took off. Soundwave sighed, and then headed back for base. Despite leaving Blackarachnia alone with that monster, he wanted to talk with Optimus about having her reprogrammed.

He made it back to base, and then went looking for Optimus. Soundwave found the leader going over a few things with Rhinox. _"Optimus, Rhinox, there is something of concern that I need to ask. Blackarachnia believes that you two are going to reprogram her into a Maximal by force. Is this true?"_ Optimus looked at Rhinox, and then the two looked at Soundwave and said "No. The reprogramming choice is hers alone to make. What ever gave her that idea?" Soundwave explained of what Blackarachnia said to him, and then Rhinox said "We were just doing some scans on her. We managed to locate the Predacon programming, but it was just some data records. We would never reprogram her by force." He then explained some more things to Soundwave, and the spacecraft responded _"I understand now. When she gets back from her hunt, I will explain what you told me to her."_ "Her hunt?" asked Optimus. _"She went after Dinobot 2 sometime after she left the base. She really wanted to maim something after her first reaction to the programming idea"_ said Soundwave. "She went after Dinobot 2? She must have a glitch if she thinks that she can take him on by herself" said Rhinox. "I can only imagine Silverbolt's reaction if he found out that Blackarachnia went after Dinobot 2 by herself. Where is he anyway?" asked Optimus. _"I have no idea. I haven't seen him all day"_ said Soundwave. "We'd better check the radars" said Rhinox as the three of them went to the monitors.

Since Optimus, Rhinox, Rattrap (he was playing games on the computer), nor Soundwave could spot Blackarachnia nor Silverbolt on the screens, Optimus and Soundwave set off to find their missing comrades. _"Blackarachnia needs to hear the full truth if she is to trust any of the Maximals again. She lost most of her trust on your side since she heard about the reprogramming idea"_ said Soundwave as the two left the base. "Don't you mean 'our' side?" asked Optimus. _"I have my orders to monitor both the Maximals and the Predacons since the both of you have managed to disrupt the timeline with that time storm, and have waged war on this planet"_ said Soundwave. "So, you're still on the Decepticon side, aren't you?" asked Optimus. _"My spark is, but I choose to not participate in their destruction. I'm more of an ambassador from a higher power, and I will evict both sides from this existence if it comes to that choice. If the Predacons manage to produce a plan on the level of destruction of that time storm, I will exert force to exterminate them. If I must, I will extend the extermination to your side as well, but only if the occasion calls for it"_ said Soundwave.

The rest of the flight passed in silence, until they came to a mountain with both Silverbolt and Blackarachnia passed out on it. Optimus landed, and then said "The both of you look like scrap." "Yes, we had a slight altercation with Dinobot. My fault, actually" said Silverbolt. "No way. I heard both you and Rhinox planning to unzip my core, so I took off" said Blackarachnia as she got up "Then Dinobot jumped me, and Spot here rescued me." "Is it true, Optimus, were you going to reprogram her?" asked Silverbolt. Optimus then looked at Blackarachnia and said "With reprogramming, you could become the Maximal that you were meant to be, but that decision to make that step will, and always shall be, yours to make." "You mean, I had a choice?" said Blackarachnia. _"See, I told you that the decision for who you and what you are was always your choice to make"_ said Soundwave. "That is the Maximal way" said Optimus "Now, let's get both of you back to base." "Excuse me, but I believe that's my responsibility as her commander" said Silverbolt. "Which we're going to have a long talk about later" said Optimus before he took off. Soundwave followed behind him, without a word.

When the four of them got back to base, Soundwave began looking around for Ravage. _Just where did that deployer go to? He said that he would discuss some battle plans for the Decepticons if I should be around when they woke up_ thought Soundwave.

Elsewhere, Ravage was with Tarantulus in his lair. "So, you found it" said Ravage as he stared at the screen. "Yes, I have. You're one of the few on this planet who knows how to operate that thing. With that ship, and if we could reprogram Soundwave to do our bidding, the both of us can rule the Maximals, Predacons, Autobots, and Decepticons. The Tri-Predacus council would be most pleased with us if we were to present both to them. Not to mention, our true leader would be most pleased with us" said Tarantulus as he laughed. "Remember the deal that we had: I help you and the Tri-Predacus council revive your master, and I get reprogrammed as one of you…I thirst for power since the original Megatron's upgrade" said Ravage.

Much later, Soundwave was watching over some of the humans that Cheetor would tutor with some basic physics. "Now, today's lessons for the advance anthropoid are the lever…the pulley…OW!" said Cheetor as he demonstrated the lever and the pulley (the pulley, on the other hand, broke and the rock that was on the other end of the pulley vine landed on Cheetor's pede.) _"Cheetor, the most basic lesson for the pulley is to not have your pede directly under it"_ said Soundwave as he watched Cheetor hop around in pain. "Yeah, educational stuff. Me? I'd rather watch things explode" said Rattrap.

About ten minutes later, Cheetor was showing the two anthropoids Una and Jack how to make tools with stones and sticks. _"Cheetor, are you sure that this is educational? This more looks like some sort of toy used in a game that human children play"_ said Soundwave. "This is actually a type of tool, Soundwave. I thought that you were fascinated by some human tools" said Cheetor. _"I am, but this is far too prehistoric for my tastes. I don't see on how anything beneficial can come out of a civilization so primitive"_ said Soundwave. "You'll be surprised, Soundwave" said Cheetor as Jack said "Bam, bam, bam" with his stick. A blast then threw Cheetor off his pedes as Inferno and Waspinator appeared. "For the royalty!" said Inferno as he continued to blast at Rattrap and Soundwave. _"Blasted bugs. How about a little lesson in bug extermination?"_ said Soundwave as he used his tentacles to swat at Inferno and Waspinator. "Terrorsaur, Terrorize!" said Terrorsaur as he appeared on the scene, and then began some sword combat with his wings at Soundwave. The tentacles dodged the attacks, before Soundwave began blasting dark energy at the flying dinosaur. While the two were distracted, Waspinator said "Waspinator sees helpless prey. Oh happy day! Beast Mode!" as he transformed, then carried off Una. "Una, no!" exclaimed Cheetor before he got blasted by Inferno. Suddenly, Depth Charge appeared, and began blasting at the two remaining Predacons. _"Hey! Watch where you're blasting!"_ shouted back Soundwave as he recoiled his tentacles to avoid them getting blasted off. Both Terrorsaur and Inferno flew away; their mission accomplished.

"_Optimus to Cheetor. Sensors indicate a lot of firepower out there. What's the situation?"_ asked Optimus. "Waspinator took Una. I have to go after…" said Cheetor before Optimus said _"Forget it, Cheetor. You've sustained too much damage. You just get Jack home safely. Rattrap, Depth Charge, and Soundwave will have to retrieve the girl"_ said Optimus. "But…" said Cheetor as Optimus said _"Trust me on this, Cheetor. It's the only way."_ "Hey, don't get your spots in a knot, kid. We'll bring her back in one piece" said Rattrap. "Knock yourselves out. I've got Preds to catch" said Depth Charge before he transformed and flew off. _"Great. Looks like I'm stuck with you"_ said Soundwave. "Hey, I'm not too thrilled either, mountainback. Now, let's go get back Una" said Rattrap as he got on Soundwave's back, and the two of them took off.

The both of them were flying towards the mountain where Una was taken, before it began glowing. "Wait a cycle. What in the slaggin' binary buckets is that?" said Rattrap before he got his answer as a blue light blasted both him and Soundwave. "Aaaahhaaa!" screamed Rattrap as he got hit by the ray, but the same beam didn't affect Soundwave. "Hey mountainback, why aren't you affected?" asked Rattrap. _"Energon disruptor rays don't seem to affect me, but then again, that is logical for me. My sparkmate happens to be a high-voltage femme, and she usually zaps me by accident, so rays like these don't even sting me anymore"_ said Soundwave. "WAIT A SECOND! HOLD THE CHEESE! YOU'RE MARRIED?" shouted Rattrap. _"Ooops. I guess that Tigatron didn't tell you that I had a sparkmate and a family"_ said Soundwave. "Tigatron knows that you're married? Is there anything else that you've been hiding from the rest of us?" asked Rattrap.

Just then, Rattrap's comm link went off as Depth Charge said_ "Rattrap, I'm glad that you're in the area. My circuits are fried and I can't move."_ "We'll be right there, Depth Charge. How did you know that we were in the area?" asked Rattrap. _"I could hear you shouting from my position"_ said Depth Charge. _"Next time, can you be a little bit more quiet? I'm sure that the Predacons could hear you shouting from their base too"_ said Soundwave as he redirected his course to Depth Charge.

"This day is just full of disappointments" said Depth Charge as he laid flat on his back. He had crashed through several trees when his circuits froze, so he was as helpless as could be. "How are you doing, Charlie tuna? Them energon circuits still sizzled?" asked Rattrap as he hopped off of Soundwave. "They'll recover, just dig me out" said Depth Charge. "And leave you a walking target for flying Preds? No way! You just lie there and get your juice back" said Rattrap. He then looked up at Soundwave and said "I'm still going to need you. This is still a rescue mission." _"Query: Are you sure that Depth Charge is going to be ok?"_ asked Soundwave. "I'm sure. It's not like the Preds are going to come looking for him" said Rattrap "We'll come back for him after we get Una." The two left, leaving Depth Charge alone. "Marvelous. What are you looking at?" said Depth Charge as a butterfly landed on his chassis.

They both managed to get to the Predacon base in the mountain as Megatron was trying to get Una to install a stabilizer crystal into his latest machine. "Yes, yes, it is done. My disruptor ray is complete. Triumph is before me!" said Megatron. "And the rat is behind you" said Rattrap as he aimed his gun at Megatron. _"Seriously, you couldn't come up with a better line?"_ asked Soundwave. Megatron growled, before Dinobot 2 aimed his laser eye at Rattrap's gun. Soundwave sent a thin stream of dark energy at Dinobot 2, knocking him backwards. "Tarantulus, it seems as if the anthropoid has become obsolete" said Megatron as Tarantulus laughed. _"Not on my watch"_ said Soundwave before he slammed the both of them with his tentacles. _"Let's grab the human and run!" _said Soundwave as he began levitating higher. "Don't need to tell me twice" said Rattrap as the two sped out, but Soundwave got Una before the three of them left the cave. "Blast! Get them!" snarled Megatron to his Predacons.

They managed to get back to Depth Charge, and he was still stuck on his back. "Are you sure that you can't move?" asked Rattrap. "No, just get me into the water" said Depth Charge. _"Ok"_ said Soundwave as he picked up Depth Charge, and chucked him into the water. "Not what I had in mind, but at least we got him into the water" said Rattrap. Underwater, Depth Charge thought _Primus, do I hate that spacecraft_.

"All Predacons attack!" announced Inferno as he gave off the battle cry. "Soundwave, get Una out of here!" shouted Rattrap. _"Hang on"_ said Soundwave as he wrapped up both Una and Rattrap in two of his tentacles, then sped off to the lake. "Why are we above the lake?" asked Rattrap. _"Wait…"_ said Soundwave as he placed several tentacles underwater. "For the royalty!" cried Inferno as he, Waspinator, and Terrorsaur flew in closer. "They're getting closer" said Rattrap as he panicked. _"Wait…"_ said Soundwave. He waited a little bit longer, and when the Predacons were just above a deeper part of the water, Soundwave sent his tentacles shooting up, grabbed them, and then dragged them underwater.

He spun them around underwater for a few minutes, and then threw them hard, and they crashed into the underwater shoreline. They all came up gasping for air, as Inferno then lined up his gun at Soundwave, and tried to fire, but it failed. The other two tried to shoot off their guns, but they wouldn't fire either. "What the…?" said Inferno as he tried to fly, but his jet wouldn't ignite. "Oh, I get it. You dowsed their firepower, and now they're all wet" said Rattrap. Depth Charge surfaced, then looked up and said "Can someone give me a lift? My circuits are still fried." "Ok, whatever you say, Charlie tuna" said Rattrap as he then spoke to Soundwave "You heard him, mountainback, give him a lift." Soundwave wrapped a tentacle around Depth Charge's midsection (he was in beast mode, by the way), and the four of them sped off in the blink of an eye.

"_All Predacons return to base"_ commed Megatron as he got ready to fire up the energon disruptor ray. He was finally going to get his revenge on the Maximals.

As Soundwave sped back to base, Depth Charge wasn't too thrilled about his transportation arrangement. He was flying like a kite in a fierce wind, with his fins acting like a sail. "I. Really. Hate. This. Thing" shouted Depth charge as he kept on sailing like a kite, until they got to the Maximal base. Rattrap and Una hopped down, and Soundwave placed Depth Charge on the ground. "Una pretty" said Una as she placed the stabilizer crystal from Megatron's project into her hair. "A stabilizing crystal" said both Depth Charge and Rattrap at the same time. _"Wait, if the human has the stabilizing crystal here, then that must mean…"_ said Soundwave before there was an aftershock from the explosion at the Predacon base. _"Well, I guess that's that"_ said Soundwave.

_Author's note: Interesting about where Soundwave's true loyalties lie here? Also, did anybody notice on how many butterflies get destroyed in Beast Wars? I wonder if something similar to "A Sound of Thunder" will occur with all the Maximals and Predacons destroying the butterflies will happen when the G1 Transformers will wake up?_


	13. Traitor to the Star Warrior

_I do not own Transformers._

Two weeks went by since the Predacon mountain base exploded, and Soundwave was basking in the moonlight, gazing up at the stars. He was thinking to back when he was with Berserk and they did the occasional stargazing together; holding each other's servos with their tentacles wrapped around them. He heard some footsteps, and extended a tentacle to see Blackarachnia walking outside. _"Query: What happened to Blackarachnia?"_ asked Soundwave. She looked at him and said "I always figured that if anyone would survive the Beast Wars, it would be me. Looks like that I was wrong." _"What makes you say that?"_ asked Soundwave. She sighed, and then said "Earlier, I tried to upgrade myself to a Transmetal version of myself because transmetals have more power. Instead, Bowser flew in and tried to stop my upgrade. What happened was that my Predacon core programing is deteorating, and if the Maximals don't remove it, I could go offline. Some choice that I have." _"Is becoming a Maximal all that bad?"_ asked Soundwave. "Easy for you to say. You're a Decepticon. Me? I was a Maximal protoform, but I've been reprogramed to become a Predacon. I don't even want to become a Maximal" said Blackarachnia.

"You make it seem as if becoming a Maximal is all that bad" said Silverbolt as he appeared. Blackarachnia turned around, and Soundwave turned his tentacle as they both stared at the Fuzor. "You were always meant to be a Maximal, Blackarachnia. Rhinox will find a way to stop the Predacon programming from interfering with your Maximal core consciousness. You're only a Predacon because of Tarantulus, but inside, you're a Maximal. You'll be one again once this is over" said Silverbolt. Blackarachnia looked at Soundwave, then redirected her attention to Silverbolt and said "Just like Soundwave here, I'm a bad girl at heart. Neither of us wants to be reprogrammed to be a Maximal, or an Autobot. We're just happy for who we are." Silverbolt shook his head, and then said "When I look into your heart, Blackarachnia, I see no evil. Only love." "Sappy as always. What did I ever see in you, anyway?" said Blackarachnia. _I frequently asked myself that when I first met Berserk. Sure, she's psychotic, but I still love her for who she is_ thought Soundwave. Silverbolt got closer to Blackarachnia, then she said "Oh yeah, I remember" before her body began sending shocks to her systems, and she screamed in pain. "Blackarachnia, no!" called out Silverbolt before he picked her up and flew back to the Maximal base. Soundwave remained where he was, and then resumed looking at the stars thinking _Someday, Berserk, we'll be together again._

Elsewhere, both Ravage and Tarantulus were talking about some battle plans. "You sure that you can reprogram Soundwave with this?" asked Ravage as he looked at one of Tarantulus' plans. "You have any better ideas?" asked Tarantulus. "I've been with the original Soundwave, Tarantulus. He may be blindly loyal to Megatron, but he's smarter than him. The only mech that I know of that is smarter than Soundwave was Shockwave, and neither of them are easy to fool. With all of these extra tentacles on this Soundwave, sneaking up on him won't be easy. He needs to be in stasis lock, offline, or…just knocked out if we are to reprogram him to do our bidding" said Ravage before Tarantulus' computers reported _"Attention. Attention. Attention. Shell program T-70 is in jeopardy."_ Tarantulus looked at the screen, then looked at Ravage and said "It looks as if Blackarachnia is having herself reprogramed. Hide before I contact Megatron." Ravage nodded, and then ran out of Tarantulus' lair. He didn't want Megatron to know that the both of them were plotting against him and the Maximals.

Night was still progressing, and Soundwave was in stasis mode when he received a message on his systems. _"Vok instrument designated Transmetal Driver beginning to activate on unit Blackarachnia. Request assistance"_ read his systems, waking up Soundwave. _Just when I was having a good dream too_ thought Soundwave as he flew to base. He wasn't too crazy about the Vok making night calls for the spacecraft, but then again, he wasn't too crazy about being separated for his family for nearly three years.

When he got to base, he extended a tentacle, and moved it to the medical bay to inspect Blackarachnia. The Transmetal Drive was activating, and it spun around and began extending energy waves of a kind to reprogram Blackarachnia. Soundwave waited a bit, and then, Blackarachnia was born as a Transmetal. She was blue-ish metallic color, had her legs coming out of her back, and had golden armor and golden-pink claws. "What happened?" she asked. _"You were reprogrammed as a Transmetal"_ said Soundwave. She placed a claw to her head and said "Silverbolt…he's in trouble." _"How do you know that?"_ asked Soundwave. "I…I don't know, but I can detect that he's in trouble. _So, becoming a Transmetal has made you telepathic…interesting_ thought Soundwave before he spoke _"I can give you a lift there. Where is he?"_ Blackarachnia managed to produce the location within Soundwave's mind, and then the spacecraft said _"Get on…"_ Blackarachnia got on his back, and then the two sped off to Silverbolt in trouble.

A few weeks went by since Blackarachnia's upgrade, and Soundwave decided to help her hone her telepathic abilities. She managed to make some progress in making small objects move, but had some difficulty in making the large objects (such as boulders) move. _"A little bit more practice, but you're getting there"_ said Soundwave. "Why is it so important for me to learn how to use my telepathic abilities?" asked Blackarachnia. _"You'll be surprised how often my telepathic abilities have assisted me, Blackarachnia. It has proven useful in interrogation, spying, and in battle. Now, let's us try it again"_ said Soundwave as Blackarachnia attempted to move a large boulder with her mind.

"_Rhinox to Soundwave and Blackarachnia. Optimus Primal requests that you return to base immediately"_ said Rhinox over the comm links. _"Ok, we'll be back at base"_ responded Soundwave before he looked at Blackarachnia and said _"It appears as if Optimus wants us to return to base. Looks like that we'll have to cut our training short."_ Blackarachnia then got on Soundwave's back, and the two headed back to base.

When they got there, Soundwave stopped for a moment. "Soundwave, what is it?" asked Blackarachnia. _"Sorry, but there is something important that I have to attend to. Just tell Optimus that I'll be back soon"_ said Soundwave before he levitated up, then flew into space. "Weird…" said Blackarachnia before she headed inside the base, unaware of the danger inside.

Soundwave had reached orbital status before he transformed into his satellite mode. "Ok, what is it?" he asked as his communication systems focused into deep space. _"We have become aware that Megatron is threatening the time flow again. We need you to intercept with him, and offline him. The Maximals and Predacons have disrupted the time flow as it is. We don't need further interference with it; otherwise all of time and the universe will be undone. It is not the will of the One"_ said the Vok. "Understood. Soundwave returning to Maximal base to annihilate Megatron. Soundwave out" responded Soundwave before he returned to his Nighthawk form and descended to the volcano hiding the Maximals and the Ark. Little did he know of the danger lurking inside the volcano.

When Soundwave got inside, he managed to see Optimal Optimus dropping Megatron into the lava-filled lake. _"Ah, Optimus. I see that you have done my mission for me"_ said Soundwave as he hovered closer to Optimal Optimus. "Wha? Oh, yeah. I killed Megatron" said Optimal Optimus. _"Query: Are you ok, Optimus? You sound different"_ said Soundwave. "Uh, just have a slight…cold, yeah that's it. A cold!" said Optimus. _Something's not right here…_ thought Soundwave.

In the main Maximal section of the volcano, Quickstrike was controlling Optimus through one of Tarantulus' inventions. "What do I do now, Tarantulus? I don't think that I can keep up the monkey impersonation forever" said Quickstrike. "Yes…I wasn't counting on Soundwave to be here so soon" said Tarantulus as he rubbed his chin with a claw. "I think that I may have the answer" said Ravage. Both Quickstrike and Tarantulus looked at him. "And what is your plan?" asked Tarantulus. "Follow me; I'll fill you in on the way to the Ark. Quickstrike, I need you to keep on talking to Soundwave until we get there" said Ravage before he left with Tarantulus. "I hope that those two critters know what they're doing. I would love to kick that flying mountain's keister, but I don't want to do it without Tarantulus' and Ravage's help. I still remember the time when that mountain kicked my keister" said Quickstrike to himself.

"So…where have you been…Soundwave?" asked Quickstrike as Optimus. _"Oh, just doing a little bit of stargazing"_ replied the spacecraft. "Did ja find anything? ...uh, I mean, did you find anything new?" asked Quickstrike. Soundwave remained silent, then said _"Not really, no. Well, I did find something unusual outside…I think that it might have been a new stasis pod."_ "Wow, that's great. Is it possible for you to show me the location?" asked Quickstrike. _"Well, I was thinking that we might need Rattrap for the job…where is he, anyway?"_ asked Soundwave. "Out scouting for energon. The rest of them are busy doing fieldwork" said Quickstrike. _"And you're the only one here? That seems illogical. Why did you send everybody out?"_ asked Soundwave. "Well, since I'm strong enough to take on the rest of the Predacons, I decided to stay behind and guard the Ark. You won't believe what happened. All of the Predacons came by, and I kicked their keisters…uh, I mean, I defeated all of them" said Quickstrike. _"All by yourself?"_ asked Soundwave. "Yep, I did" said Quickstrike "…Uh, I mean, of course I did."

"Hello, Soundwave" said Ravage as he appeared with Tarantulus. _"Query: Why is Tarantulus here?"_ asked Soundwave. "Well, he came by, and I managed to talk to him. I convinced him to defect to the Maximals" said Ravage. Tarantulus nodded, and then said "Well, since we're on the same side, Soundwave, I need so show you something important. A few months ago, I found this weird alien device, and I need you to take a look at it, and tell us what it is." _"Ravage, may I talk to you alone for a nano-klik?"_ asked Soundwave. "Of course" said Ravage as he got closer to the spacecraft. Soundwave held on to Ravage, and then hovered to a far part of the volcano.

When they were alone, Soundwave asked him _"Are you sure that he's to be trusted? He doesn't seem trustworthy. He doesn't seem to be too much of a Predacon, but something else?"_ "What do you mean, Soundwave? Tarantulus is a close co-worker of mine. I trust him with my spark" said Ravage. _"Ok, if that's what you say, then I believe you. He still seems suspicious to me"_ said Soundwave. "I think that, by staying with the Maximals for so long, they have…pushed too many of their values on you" said Ravage. _"True…it is a possibility"_ said Soundwave.

While the two talked, Quickstrike picked up Tarantulus in Optimus' servo, and Tarantulus said to him "What have the both of you talked about while Ravage and I were walking on the way here?" "Well, I told him that I kicked the keisters of all the Predacons, and he told me that he found a stasis pod outside" said Quickstrike. "Hmm…" said Tarantulus as he rubbed his chin with a claw "I'll have him find this 'stasis pod' after I reprogram him. He may be lying, but he seems that he might be on to us. Be careful with him, Quickstrike. None of us know how powerful Soundwave truly is." "Ok, whatever you say, partner" said Quickstrike as Ravage and Soundwave returned.

Suddenly, the lava began bubbling a lot, and a draconian head emerged, followed by the rest of Megatron's body. "By the pits, you live!" exclaimed Tarantulus. "I am not so easily destroyed, thanks to your treachery" said Megatron. Tarantulus turned around and said to Soundwave "Uh, excuse me for a moment while I have a chat with Megatron" before he ran up to the dragon. _Ok, now I have my suspicions_ thought Soundwave.

Tarantulus ran up to Megatron and whispered harshly "What do you think that you're doing?" "I was about to thank you for you giving me this power upgrade, Tarantulus" said Megatron as he glared at the spider. "That's not what I meant! I meant that I've managed to convince Soundwave that we…uh…accepted a bit of a…peace treaty with the Maximals, and I'm on their side" whispered Tarantulus. "I can suffer your treachery, but NOT YOUR INCOMPETENCE!" shouted Megatron to the spider. _"There isn't anything that you two are hiding from us, now is there?"_ asked Soundwave. "Uh, no, no. Everything is just fine" said Tarantulus as he waved a claw at Soundwave then redirected his attention to Megatron. "I haven't reprogramed the spacecraft to be a slave to us yet, so is it possible to play along until I do?" whispered Tarantulus to the tyrant. Megatron glared at Tarantulus and snarled at him "I'm afraid that your usefulness has outlived itself. With Starscream's spark possessing Waspinator, you're obsolete" before he picked up the spider and chucked him into a lava pit.

A tentacle came out of Soundwave, tapped Ravage on his shoulder and said _"You were saying that Tarantulus is to be trusted?"_ Ravage could tell that Soundwave was quickly losing confidence in the cassetticon, so Ravage turned to the spacecraft and said "Uh, well, what Megatron means is that…Tarantulus was a traitor to the Predacons so he switched to the Maximals. He's no longer needed since he has Starscream's scientific ability."

Without warning, Optimal Optimus screamed, and then fell; electricity sparking from him. _"Optimus? Are you ok?"_ asked Soundwave. "It was…Quickstrike who was controlling me. He was using one of Tarantulus' inventions…" said Optimus as he groaned. The tentacle redirected its attention to Ravage, as the panther began backing up, saying "But Soundwave, I am loyal to you. I would never betray you." Soundwave's tentacle optic narrowed as he screamed _"LIAR!"_ Without any further notice, Ravage fled from the scene, followed by Tarantulus in motorcycle mode.

"Now with that little distraction out of the way…ENTER THE DRAGON!" shouted Megatron as he transformed into his beast mode and began blasting fire at Soundwave and Optimal Optimus. Soundwave saw this attack coming, then threw up a dark energy barrier.

No matter how much flame power Megatron put into it, he couldn't get past that barrier. "So, I see that you are a true warrior after all, Soundwave, but it is not enough" snarled Megatron before he began flying up high. Soundwave sped up after the dragon, with Megatron using evasive maneuvers to outdo the spacecraft, but the Nighthawk was able to keep up. _"Give up, Megatron, there is no victory for you"_ said Soundwave. "Megatron doesn't give up, HE CONQUERS!" shouted Megatron before he blasted at the stalactites, causing them to rain down on Soundwave. Soundwave threw up a dark matter barrier this time, then sent the rocks flying. While he was distracted, Megatron flew out of the volcano, saying "It appears that I have been once again cheated of victory, but beware the dragon's wrath. Vengeance will be mine!"

Much later, after all the locked up Maximals were released (turns out, only Depth Charge wasn't at the base), Optimus told them all "With Megatron's upgrade, it has made the point of winning and ending this war all the more important, and winning it soon." _Yeah, but now, I'm afraid that I'm the one who has to end this war. The Vok are already upset at what has happened to this planet. I'm sorry, Optimus, but after I defeat the Predacons, I'll have to evict you and all the Maximals off this planet_ thought Soundwave.

Later that night, Soundwave flew out of the volcano and then headed towards the Predacon base. He had a mission to complete for the Vok.

_So…It's close to Endgame here. And, what is Ravage and Tarantulus planning?_


	14. Task of The One

_I do not own Transformers._

The Predacons were busy casting trial on Quickstrike, and Megatron was about to have the Fuzor executed when without warning, a blast hit the base. "What the?" said Megatron when the computers said _"Warning. Base under attack by Soundblaster. Warning. Base under attack by Soundblaster."_ "Who's Soundblaster?" said Megatron as the base shook. The computers frizzled for a bit, then all went dark, but blasts continued to bombard the base. "Abandon base!" announced Megatron as the Predacons transformed and ran out of the base. A final blast vaporized the base, leaving a crater in its wake.

At the Maximal base, Rattrap and the others were looking at the computer screen and saw the Predacon base destroyed. "Looks like the Beast Wars are over…for the Preds!" said Rattrap as he began laughing. None of the other Maximals were laughing as Rattrap sighed then said "What is wrong with you bots? We should be celebrating! Those asteroids just solved all of our problems." "Those weren't asteroids, Rattrap. Whatever those things were, they didn't have any mass at all. The computer says that whatever hit the Predacon base doesn't even exist. Besides, take a closer look at where those things came from" said Rhinox as he punched in a few commands, and they all saw a star-like creature hurling the dark objects at the Predacon base. "Whatever that thing is, its power reading is off the scale. Part of the scans indicates that it's Cybertronian, but some of the other readings indicate that it's something else…not alien, but it feels out" said Rhinox.

At the Predacon base, Inferno saw the base and shouted "The colony!" "Look! Waspinator sees gigantic flower in the sky!" said Waspinator as he pointed upwards. All the Predacons looked up, and they too saw something in the sky. "I am not a flower!" shouted the thing, then levitated down to Earth and landed on its pedes. It looked at all of the Predacons, then said "I am Soundblaster the Star Warrior, embassary of the Vok and the Great Serpent. I know you well, Megatron. The Vok have charged you with the destruction of both time and space. You are therefore charged for immediate execution, Megatron. Violence will not be tolerated." Megatron stared back at Soundblaster and said "We Megatrons do not surrender and give up so easily, Soundblaster. Predacons, attack!"

All the Predacons began firing at Soundblaster, but he threw up a dark energy barrier, then he created floating dark orbs of dark matter and sent them directly at Megatron's pawns. They all flew backwards into the stone cliffs in the volcanic area. Megatron stared back in awe and said "Its power is awesome."

Back at the Maximal base, the Maximals were watching and Rattrap said "Man, whatever he is, he is making circuit salad out of the Preds. So now can we par-tay?" Optimus stared at the screen and said "Rhinox, tell Airazor to get to these coordinates and tell her not to engage until I get there. I just hope I get there in time." Rattrap stared back at Optimus in shock and said "Am I missing the interface here? You're jumping in to help Mega-jerk?" "Megatron is carrying the spark of the original Megatron. If he gets destroyed, there could be a time storm that could wipe out Cybertron as we know it" said Optimus. Blackarachnia looked at Rattrap and said "And when that flying flower is finished with my old pals, where do you think that he's coming next?" "Just when things are finally looking up, (laughs) we're all gonna die" said Rattrap. He then looked around and said "Has anybody seen Tigatron and Dinobot? They were here just a cycle ago." Rhinox then looked around and said "Rattrap's right. Where could they have gone?" "They couldn't…oh no" said Optimus.

"Megatron, there is no hope. You will be terminated for what you have done. We can do this the quick and painless way, or a very painful torturous death" said Soundblaster. "I give you no choice at all" snarled Megatron before he transformed. Soundblaster transformed back into his satellite mode, and the two engaged in a dogfight.

"Faster, Tigatron. We have to tell Soundwave about the missing spark from the original Megatron" said Dinobot as he ran with Tigatron. "I'm still surprised that Ravage would go against Soundwave. He was supposed to be loyal to him" said Tigatron. "It's that Tarantulus who always does the backstabbing. I don't know what his real plan is, but it's something that I have to stop" said Dinobot as the two hurried along the plains to the location of the former Predacon base.

Airazor managed to fly to the area where Soundblaster and Megatron were having their dogfight. "What in Primus' name is going on?" she asked. "Something you have no part in" said Tarantulus as he stepped out from behind a rock and launched a net to capture the femme. She struggled a bit, but the web drained her energy, putting her into stasis lock.

During the dogfight, Megatron bit Soundblaster on one of his wings, letting the Star Warrior let off a scream. He forced Megatron off him, as the two stared down at each other. "Let the power of the Great Serpent end this!" said Soundblaster. "This is my world now, you have no place in it" roared Megatron before he lunged at Soundblaster again. Megatron fired an ice blast at Soundblaster, but the satellite dodged, and hit Megatron with a blast of dark matter. Megatron screamed as he fell from the sky, hitting the ground with a sickening thud. Soundblaster transformed back into his robot mode and aimed his sonic cannon at Megatron.

Tarantulus was watching the whole thing and said "So much for the mighty Megatron. Now it's my…" as he was cut off by the roaring jets of Optimal Optimus flying in to the arena. "Optimus…this should prove interesting" laughed Tarantulus as he watched Optimus land behind the Star Warrior.

Soundblaster turned his helm as he watched Optimus land behind him, saying "I am Optimus Primal, leader of the Maximals. I mean you no harm." "I know that, Optimus" said Soundblaster "We'll speak more when my primary objective is completed" as he turned around and aimed at Megatron's body again. "I cannot let you destroy Megatron" said Optimus. "His damage done to time and space must end before it grows greater" said Soundblaster as his sonic cannon hummed to life. "Destroy him, and you'll only make things worse!" exclaimed Optimus. Soundblaster paused, then said "I'm listening." "He has the original Megatron's spark. Destroy him, and you can end Cybertron as we know it" said Optimus. Soundblaster wasn't expecting to hear this as he lowered his primary weapon and stared at Optimus wide-eyed. "You mean that this piece of scrap has the original Megatron's spark with him?" said Soundblaster in shock. He then facepalmed himself, muttering "I'm still surprised at this tyrant's stupidity." Suddenly, blue-lighted arachnoids began flying and attached themselves to both Optimus and Soundblaster, pumping them with cyber-venom. They both passed out, as Tarantulus approached the Star Warrior and said "Now…you're mine" before giving off a maniacal laugh.

Hours later, Megatron awoke, and looked around. He snarled at the damage done to his base, but spotted Optimal Optimus in his weakened state. "Looks like that this day won't be a total loss" he said as he prepared his fire attack, but a pair of green lasers hit him. He turned and saw Dinobot riding Tigatron. "So, the Maximals have launched a counterattack. Pitiful attempt" he said, but another blast caught him off guard. Cheetor was there as well, snarling at the Predacon. Megatron roared, then flew off. He was too weak to take on a Transmetal 2 Maximal.

Elsewhere, Airazor groaned. The webbing from her trap was cut by Dinobot, as Tigatron picked her up. "How is she?" asked Dinobot. "She's weak, but ok. Cheetor, we need you to take Airazor back to base and to put her in the CR chamber. We'll track down that warrior that destroyed the Predacon base" said Tigatron. "Are you nuts? Who knows that thing's power? Did you two even see what it did to the Predacon base?" said Cheetor. "You have to trust us on this one, cat-bot. Both Tigatron and I have a history with it" said Dinobot. Reluctantly, Cheetor took Airazor back to base. Both Dinobot and Tigatron looked down at the volcanic area before them, and they saw Optimus groaning and getting to his feet. "He'll be fine, but we need to find Soundwave before Tarantulus does who knows what to him" said Dinobot as he began sniffing the air. He soon picked up Tarantulus' scent, and the two headed off to find Tarantulus' lair.

Meanwhile, in Tarantulus' lair, Soundblaster groaned himself awake. "Huh, where am I?" he asked. He saw Tarantulus typing away at a computer with none other than… "Ravage!" exclaimed Soundblaster. "Ah, you're awake" said the spider. "Tarantulus" growled Soundblaster. He struggled against the webbing that held him, but he couldn't break free. "Keep struggling if you like. In a few kliks, my data tracks will destroy the Vok influence within you, and then, you'll serve me" said Tarantulus. "I thought that you said that I could keep him as my slave" snarled Ravage. Tarantulus turned around and said "Well, he could be your pet after we destroy all those within the Ark." "You're forgetting; my past body is within that Ark. Destroy it, and you'll destroy me" snarled Ravage. "Well, after I reprogram Soundblaster here, we could discuss what we should do with the Ark. After all, we have found the Nemesis, so we could devise how we should destroy the Maximals and the Autobots then" said Tarantulus.

While the two Predacons were talking, Soundblaster looked around and he saw a particular device. _Berserk's Dimensional Bridge device? I thought that was with her_ thought Soundblaster.

Tarantulus noticed that Soundblaster's attention was looking at the device, so he said "So, I see that you know of that device. I've been trying to figure out what it does for the last few deca-cycles, but I can't seem to figure out how to operate it. Perhaps you could tell me now, or after I reprogram you."

Outside Tarantulus' lair, both Dinobot and Tigatron managed to find the base. "He's in there" snarled Dinobot before he jumped down and transformed. Tigatron did the same thing, then they both snuck inside the cave. They heard Tarantulus laughing, as Soundblaster snarled "I'll never serve one as evil as you. "You have little choice, and while you'll deal with the Maximals, I'll deal with the destruction of the Ark!" said Tarantulus. Ravage looked very angry, then pushed Tarantulus, saying "You can't, you eight-legged freak! It'll wipe me out of existence!" "Not to mention, the time storm will wipe out all of Cybertronian life" said Soundblaster. "Only those descended from Autobot and Decepticon, but I and the Tri-Predacus Council have different origins" said Tarantulus. "Different origins? Then that must mean…" said Soundblaster as Tarantulus laughed and said "Yes, both the Tri-Predacus Council and I are descendants of Unicron! Under our rule, Cybertron will conquer the universe. And your precious Vok…and the Great Serpent, whoever he is." "You're insane" snarled Soundblaster. "He's not the only one who thinks that!" roared Ravage as the two Predacons got into a fist-fight.

While they fought, they pushed each other into different machinery, until Ravage tossed Tarantulus onto the Dimensional Warp device, activating it. _"Sequence activated"_ read the device on the monitor, before it opened up a blue and purple dimensional portal, sucking up both Tarantulus and the device. The portal closed, leaving Ravage stunned as Soundblaster thought _Great, now we're stuck in this dimension forever. Just how many millions of years do I have to wait until Berserk thaws out and builds another device?_ "What in Unicron's name was that?" said Ravage in a stunned voice. "Just a minor distraction, you honorless traitor!" snarled Dinobot before he plunged his sword into Ravage's spark. Ravage exploded, and the shockwaves caused many of the computers to go haywire. _"System overload…set to destruction sequence"_ said the computers before they fizzled. "Let's get Soundwave out of here!" said Tigatron as he began cutting the webs trapping Soundblaster.

The two Maximals began running out of the cave with Soundblaster (in his Nighthawk mode) behind them, when suddenly, the cave exploded. They were all flung several yards into the air before they all hit the ground hard. They all blacked out, and stayed that way until Optimus was asking them "Dinobot? Tigatron? Soundwave? Are you all right?" "Optimus, how did you get here?" asked Tigatron. "You three left a very big trail" he said as he showed them the massive destruction to the landscape. "And I vowed to never allow this to happen to this planet again" grumbled Tigatron. "Just one thing that bothers me; what happened to that flower-warrior? Last time that I saw him, I was talking to him, and then Tarantulus knocked us out" said Optimus. Soundwave's tentacles twitched in anger that Optimus was calling him a flower-warrior, but he kept his mouth shut. "Well…" said Tigatron as he looked at Dinobot. "Is there something that you two are hiding from me?" asked Optimus as he placed his servos on his hips. _"Well, I can tell you that the Star Warrior will make an appearance again, but it's up to him"_ said Soundwave. "Star Warrior?" said Optimus "We'll discuss this later, but now, you three return to base" as he transformed and flew. Both Tigatron and Dinobot boarded Soundwave, and the three of them flew after Optimus. However, they weren't alone at the scene as Megatron growled at them.

Back inside the base at the Ark, Optimal Optimus was reading from the Covenant of Primus; _"And a mighty warrior came down from the sky, and a rainbow was upon his head, and his feet as pillars of fire, and the great dragon was…"_ _"Query: What are you reading, Optimus?"_ asked Soundwave. Optimus stopped what he was reading, then looked at Soundwave and said "I was just reading from the Covenant of Primus. It was said to have been written from Alpha Trion a long time ago." _"May I read it?"_ asked Soundwave. "Of course" said Optimus as he handed the book to Soundwave. Soundwave extended a tentacle, and began uploading the information. Suddenly, he short-circuited, as he shouted _"OW! WHAT A PROCESSOR ACHE!"_ "I guess that old mountainback tried to read the whole thing at once" laughed Rattrap. Soundwave grumbled, then levitated up and flew out of the cave.

He headed into orbit around the Earth, and transformed back into his satellite mode. He relaxed as he absorbed the sun's rays. He regretted downloading the whole Covenant of Primus to his processor; and now he had to deal with the consequences. Soundwave placed the whole thing in a further part of his processor, and decided to interpret the rest of the book later; to be more specific, after the Beast Wars or when he wanted some alone time. While his processor was clearing itself, Soundwave decided to do a little bit of spying on the Earth. He happened to pick up where Megatron and his pawns were hiding. Soundwave watched with interest, and saw them go down a hole in the ground. He needed to contact the base, but first, a little bit of dark matter healing was needed…

A few hours later, Optimus, Depth Charge, Dinobot, Silverbolt, and Cheetor were at the scene where the Predacons were last spotted. "Hmm, our quarry seems to have vanished" said Silverbolt. "I know that they were here" said Depth Charge as he began digging "I can still smell the stink of X's spark." After some digging, he found a lock to a tunnel; "Ha! I knew it!" exclaimed Depth Charge. "Depth Charge, wait!" exclaimed Optimus, but it was too late. When Depth Charge undid the lock on the cover to the tunnel, he found some lit dynamite, and it blew up! The Maximals were tossed around, and Silverbolt was badly hurt.

Airazor flew in Blackarachnia, and the spider exclaimed "Silverbolt!" They landed, and they saw Optimus inspecting Silverbolt. "Aside, scrapheap!" shouted Blackarachnia. She knelt to be closer to him, and he said "Fear not, my love. It's just a…scratch" he said as a few body parts fell off him. "Maybe, but I say that you're due for some time in the CR chamber" said Optimus. "Sir, I'll be fine. I just…" said Silverbolt as Blackarachnia cut him off and said "Shut up and obey your commander, bone brain." "Yes dear" said Silverbolt as his head fell off. Cheetor approached Optimus and said "I'll escort them back."

Optimus then looked at Depth Charge and said "Come on, we've got work to do." _"Yo! Rattrap to Optimus"_ said Rattrap on the comm link. "What is it, Rattrap?" asked Optimus. _"It looks like that we've got an unscheduled eclipse, but it's not from the moon"_ said Rattrap. "What do you mean? …Oh" said Optimus as he saw the daylight fading and looked up to see a large black mass blocking out the sun. "What is it?" asked Cheetor. "I don't know, but it's probably the work of those aliens again" said Blackarachnia.

Elsewhere, Inferno, Waspinator, Quickstrike, and Terrorsaur were hiding behind some plants as they watched some humans work in their tribe. "There! That will be our new colony!" said Inferno. "Ewww. I don't wanna move in there. It's got all of them hairy critters in it. Unless…unless it means we're gonna slag 'em! Oh please tell me that's what you're plannin'" said Quickstrike. "The Royalty demands a new colony, and we shall take it, by force" said Inferno. "Yahoo! Now you're talkin'" said Quickstrike as he slapped Inferno behind his back "How's about it, bug boy and beaky? You ready to rip? Ha ha." "Yes, yes I am" said Starscream as he took over Waspinator's body "I've had it with these humans. They've always ruined our plans when we Decepticons were about to slag the Autobots! If we destroy them, we'll erase their existence, which will earn a victory for the Decepticons! Ha ha!" "Yes, I look forward to dismembering some fleshies" said Terrorsaur. "For the Royalty!" announced Inferno as he charged in to attack the humans, but all four Predacons stopped in their tracks when they say the sun being covered by a mysterious black mass.

"What is this?" said Terrorsaur as he looked at the other Predacons. "Waspinator don't like this" said Waspinator as Starscream took over again and shouted "Shut up, bug brain! It must be the Nemesis ship, but I don't remember it being this big, unless…" "Unless what?" said Quickstrike. "Unless it's that Star Warrior Soundblaster. You remember him shooting those dark spheres at us? Maybe it's him at his true power. Just how did Soundwave manage to get an upgrade like this? I know that if an Autobot or Decepticon gets a powerful enough upgrade, they change both their names and appearances. Just what did he do to get this much power?" said Starscream. None of the other Predacons came up with an answer at the moment, but Terrorsaur said "Well, if you remember those aliens giving us our Transmetal forms, maybe they did something to upgrade his body?" "Just where is my power? If it's anybody who deserves this much power, it should be me!" screeched Starscream. "Ya know, for a name like 'Starscream,' you've certainly earned the part with 'scream' in it, ya know?" said Quickstrike. Starscream gave Quickstrike this long look, before a fistfight erupted between the two Predacons. Inferno facepalmed himself as he shook his head.

Up in the sky, Soundblaster was in his satellite form, expanding his dark matter so that it covered the entire Earth. _Soon, the entire planet will be cloaked by my little ruse, and then, I'll be able to carry out the Vok's orders_ thought Soundwave as he laughed.

Underground, Depth Charge was sniffing the ground, then said "X was here, and so was that Dinobot clone. They went that way" as he pointed to the water. "It's not like Megatron to flee our approach. He's after something" said Dinobot as Optimus was working on a computer. He managed to bring up a map, with Megatron and his group heading towards the Nemesis. "Nemesis" said Optimus in shock. "You're kidding" said Depth Charge as he approached Optimus and looked at the screen. "I wish. Depth Charge, we've had our differences, but both you and I know that this is bigger than both of us. They're underwater, which means that you're our only hope. Warheads armed, full speed to maximum! You have to stop Megatron, at any cost" said Optimus as he looked worried. "Consider it done" said Depth Charge as he transformed. "What shall I do?" asked Dinobot. Optimus looked at Dinobot and said "You head back to base. I'll head to the Nemesis if Depth Charge fails to stop Megatron." "What?" exclaimed Dinobot. He snarled and said "But Optimus. This is the chance that I've been waiting for. You have to let me go." "That's an order!" barked Optimus.

A few minutes later outside of Tarantulus' lair, Dinobot was sitting on a rock, staring out at the ocean, or rather, what was supposed to be a view of the ocean that was hidden in darkness. Dinobot was both filled with rage and sadness. Here he was, in the final battle of the Beast Wars, and he wasn't going to die with honor. He then heard a thud as a voice said "Dinobot, what are you doing here?" "Leave me alone, Soundwave. I have failed" said Dinobot. "In what way, may I ask" asked Soundwave. Dinobot sighed, then said "Optimus refused to allow me to follow him into battle. He sent Depth Charge to stop Megatron, and he left me here. He told me to go back to base. I won't get my death with honor. When we go back to Cybertron, I'll be prosecuted for who I am. I'll die with dishonor." "Is dying with honor that important to you?" asked Soundwave. Dinobot sighed and said "It's what I've always wanted…I am a warrior, after all." He heard Soundwave chuckle a bit, then the Decepticon said "Then, I shall grant you that wish. In the darkest hour, there is a light" before a faint purple light began to glow behind Dinobot that grew brighter and brighter by the nano-klik. Dinobot turned around, and saw Soundwave in his satellite form. Soundwave held out his servo and said "Get on." Dinobot got on Soundwave's servo, then the Star Warrior held up his servo to his helm. "Grab on" said Soundwave as Dinobot gripped on to one of Soundwave's horns. Levitating off the ground, Soundwave flew to the Nemesis like a comet, with a long trail of bright purple light behind him in his wake.

Further away from both Soundwave and Dinobot, both Rampage and Depth Charge were having a battle with each other, with Rampage winning. Rampage laughed, then said "I thought that you had more fight in you, Depth Charge. I thought that you cared about your friends at Starbase Rugby. As I recall, there was one special friend of yours there." Depth Charge froze as Rampage laughed and said "Did I happen to hit a raw nerve in you, Depth Charge? Shall I mention how she screamed? Or, what I did to her? I'll tell you that I gave her a very special torture since she was very special to you. But, it seems to me as if she wasn't that special to you after all." Depth Charge screamed in a primal anger, then began punching Rampage with pure anger. "Well, looks like that you did care about her after all" laughed Rampage, then he said "But, you're pathetic, Depth Charge. Face it, fins, you can't win."

While both Depth Charge and Rampage fought underwater, Megatron was inside the Nemesis with Dinobot 2 and Scorponok. "What is the status report?" asked Megatron to Dinobot 2. "Power cells approaching maximum" said Dinobot 2. About a minute passed by, then Dinobot 2 said "Power at maximum." "And as it were, a great mountain raging fire arose from the sea" quoted Megatron from his own copy of the Covenant of Primus, then said "Thrusters online." "Yes, lord Megatron" said Scorponok as he activated the thrusters to 'on.' The Nemesis lit up as the engines came to life, as the ship rose from the waters.

Rampage smiled evilly as he saw the Nemesis rise, then he turned to Depth Charge and said "I was your assignment, and you failed." Depth Charge narrowed his eyes, then charged at Rampage with a shard of raw energon. Rampage transformed back into his crab mode, and grabbed Depth Charge's arms, then began crushing them. Depth Charge screamed, then felt the crab's second claw crushing one of his legs. "You know, fins, I expected more of a fight from you, but it looks like that I was wrong. I think that I'll devour you like I did your friends" laughed Rampage as he continued to crush Depth Charge.

Optimus managed to make it to Depth Charge's coordinates, but he couldn't see Depth Charge nor the Nemesis. Then again, he couldn't see anything in the darkness. Optimus hovered above the area, then felt the sky rumble as he heard something enormous rising from the ocean. He saw the lights illuminating it as he said "By the code of Primus…the Nemesis!" Inside the ship, Megatron laughed as his plan had worked!

Ahead of the Nemesis, Soundwave stopped. "What is it, Soundwave?" asked Dinobot. "It is the Nemesis. I can sense it. Megatron has managed to get it online" said Soundwave. They both heard a loud "Aaaaahhaaaahhhhh!" and a loud blast. "What was that?" asked Dinobot. "I wish that I knew. It sounded like Optimus getting shot, but he wouldn't be stupid enough to be in front of the Nemesis' path" said Soundwave. "I wouldn't be too sure. I question his leadership at times" said Dinobot.

Beneath the Nemesis, Optimal Optimus was floating in the ocean, having been hit by one of the Nemesis' missiles. Megatron smirked at Optimus' defeat, then he hit a button and said "Megatron to Rampage, what is your progress?" _"I'm currently having fun torturing Depth Charge"_ said Rampage. "Yes, but I need you to report back to Tarantulus' base for pickup. You are to board the Nemesis, and then we'll attack the Ark together" said Megatron. _"Aw, come on. I'm about to offline that slagger Depth Charge here"_ said Rampage. "Oh Dinobot" said Megatron as Dinobot 2 began crushing his spark. Rampage felt pain, then he said _"Ok, Megatron."_ "Ah, how I do like it when my pawns obey me" said Megatron.

Underwater, Rampage growled a bit, then turned to Depth Charge and said "As much fun as I had, I'm afraid that I have to go. But, here's a little memento to remember me by" as Rampage transformed into his tank mode, and fired a shot from his cannon at Depth Charge. Depth Charge flew upward until he broke the water's surface. "Depth Charge, is that you?" asked Optimus. "Yes" croaked Depth Charge. "Let's head back to base, and warn the others that the Nemesis is coming. Looks like that we'll have to find Soundwave, and hope that he can defeat the Nemesis, if we can find him" said Optimus.

After picking up Rampage, Megatron was flying the ship as he said "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end" as he began blasting the Earth before the Nemesis. Far above the Nemesis, Soundwave followed the ship without his lights. "We should attack" said Dinobot. "No, not yet. Just waiting for the right moment" said Soundwave as he followed the ship.

The satellite managed to pick up a transmission from Optimus: _"Optimus to Rhinox, code 1 alert. Deploy operation Eternity." _"Query: What is Operation Eternity?" asked Soundwave. "I'm not sure; it's something that both Optimus and Rhinox know, but not myself" said Dinobot. "Sounds important, if you ask me" said Soundwave as he narrowed his optics at the ship.

"I am that which is, which was, and is yet to come" said Megatron as he continued to read from the Covenant of Primus "And you will know my name is Megatron when I lay my vengeance upon you." Dinobot 2 looked at Megatron and said "You've already read the Covenant of Primus?" "Just the good parts" said Megatron as he pressed a button that unleashed more firepower.

"_Warning: Nemesis approaching Anthropoid colony. Warning"_ read Soundwave's systems as he said "Now!" Soundwave shot a few blasts at the ship, which rocked it. "Ah, company" said Megatron as he opened fire with the Nemesis' missiles. Soundwave dodged all of the missiles, as Megatron snarled. "Computer, divert all available power to primary weapon, and give me target lock" said Megatron as he pressed a few buttons. The Nemesis' primary beam aimed at Soundwave and fired back, as Soundwave countered with a dark energy beam. "Hmm…well, Soundblaster, it looks as if you're good, but not good enough" said Megatron as he pressed a few more buttons, and all of the available missiles and bombs at Soundwave.

Soundwave kept all of his focus on the Nemesis' primary beam, he didn't notice the bombs and missiles until Dinobot said "Soundwave, look out!" but it was too late. The bombs and missiles overwhelmed Soundwave as a good portion of his body was obliterated by the beam. The Star Warrior fell to Earth, unconscious as Dinobot was knocked out as well. "Ta ta, Soundwave. I like to say about my namesake; he'd like his artillery big and plentiful" said Megatron as he continued his reign of destruction.

_Soundwave's spark was once floating in a universe consisted of stars and gases. "What, am I dead again?" groaned Soundwave. A massive spiral of two lights rotating in a vortex appeared before him, and it said _"I am the One! I have watched you serve the Vok, Soundwave"_ He said nobly. "The One? I've heard about you…vaguely. I know of what the Vok have told me, but otherwise, I only know of you from some of Cybertronian folklore" said Soundwave. _"Yes, but I still need you in your quest, Soundwave. If Megatron destroys the Ark, history as we know it will unravel, and all of my creation will cease to exist. I need you to return, Soundwave, and to destroy the Nemesis. I give you the Comet's Light!"_ said the One before Soundwave began blacking out._

"Soundwave! Wake up!" shouted Dinobot into Soundwave's audio. "How can something so small be so loud?" groaned Soundwave. He woke up to find himself fully healed, and stronger. "What happened?" asked Soundwave. "The Nemesis has moved on to the Ark. Megatron intends to attack it in its defenseless state" said Dinobot. _Let's see what the One's Comet's Light can do_ thought Soundwave as he reached into his newly given power.

The anthropoids were busy running away from Inferno, Quickstrike, Terrorsaur, and Waspinator when they all saw a bright light streak across the sky. "What in tarnation is that?" said Quickstrike. "Just something that is burning out my eyes" cawed Terrorsaur, but they saw something shoot out of the light and aim at them. "What?" said Inferno, then widened his eyes in horror.

The anthropoids were watching the light as well, and they all saw four smaller comets shoot out of it and destroy Inferno, Waspinator, Quickstrike, and Terrorsaur where they stood. The anthropoids watched in amazement as the light head in the direction of the Nemesis.

"I can't believe it. No power, no weapons, Optimus is down for the count; we're all gonna die" said Rattrap as he held onto a beam of the Ark. The Nemesis was busy using its Tractor beam to move the Ark. "Yep" said Rhinox as he was afraid.

Megatron was laughing at his godly power that he held. He had the Nemesis, Soundwave was destroyed, and now, he was going to destroy the Ark. "Deactivate Tractor beam. Divert all available power to primary weapon. Victory is at hand" said Megatron as Scorponok punched in the commands. "Computer, bring Fusion Cannon online! Divert all power" announced Megatron as the Nemesis began charging up the energy beam. "Now, while they are helpless, destroy them!" shouted Megatron.

"_Warning! Unknown object heading for Nemesis. Speed is at Mach 14. Prepare for impact"_ read the computer. "What? How can anything be at this speed on this planet?" boomed Megatron. A sudden impact shook the ship, as the Predacons inside it were scattered around. There, Soundblaster stood in all of his glory with Dinobot besides him. Megatron snarled "You!" at Soundblaster. "I am Alpha and Omega! I am the beginning and the end! I am eternal!" shouted Megatron. "And I am Soundblaster, the Star Warrior. I am oblivion!" shouted back Soundblaster before he formed a sword composed of both dark matter and a white light. He raised his sword high, and sliced it down straight on Megaton. Two sparks were split out of Megatron when the sword fell. Soundblaster reached out and picked both of them up.

"Megatron…" said Scorponok in shock before he screamed in rage and began firing a flammable gel from his tail at Soundblaster. The Star Warrior took notice of this, and fired two shots of dark matter from his tentacles. The two forces hit head on, with the satellite forcing the flammable gel back. The gel sprayed over Scorponok, burning the scorpion. "Aaaahhhaaaa!" screamed Scorponok as he ran around blind, before Soundblaster's sword fell down on him, ending his life.

Rampage watched with interest, then approached the satellite. "I see that you are not only powerful, Soundblaster, but you tend to enjoy causing death to others, sometimes painfully. We can join together and destroy the Maximals, both on Earth and on Cybertron. So Soundblaster, what do you say?" said Rampage. Soundblaster turned and stared at Rampage in silence. When he spoke, he said "I do not take my enjoyment in killing others, Rampage. I only execute them if they have done wrong. I usually don't execute the lives of the innocent…at least, not anymore." With that, he raised his sword, but before he could lay it down, Rampage screamed in pain.

While Soundblaster was fighting both Megatron and Scorponok, Dinobot was fighting his clone. With Dinobot 2's Transmetal form and assorted weapons, he managed to overpower Dinobot. Dinobot fought valiantly, but he was no match for Dinobot 2. "Megatron cloned me from you, yet we're different. I'm a Transmetal 2 with Rampage's indestructible spark, which makes me superior to you. What made you think that you could even defeat me?" said Dinobot 2. Dinobot looked at his clone and said "What separates us is that I have the one thing that the other Predacons don't have…my honor" before he raised his spinning blade sword and plunged it deep into Dinobot 2's spark. It was there that Dinobot 2 died on the spot.

Dinobot heard Rampage scream in pain, before he heard a slicing noise and then, silence. _"Warning! Systems overload; malfunction. Damage done to main power systems. Prepare for immediate crash-landing"_ said the onboard computers before they all went fuzzy. "Dinobot? Dinobot! We've got to get out of here!" called out Soundblaster. "Negative, it was an honor serving you, Soundblaster" said Dinobot. Soundblaster stood there for a moment, then saluted Dinobot and said "And it was an honor serving you too, Dinobot. May your spark join the Matrix, as one of Cybertron's greatest warriors." The ex-Decepticon then flew out of the crashing Nemesis, leaving a bright white light behind him as the ship crashed beyond the horizon. In the darkness, Soundblaster floated as he watched the ship go beyond his sight, then he flew up higher and began dissolving the darkness.

At the tribe with the prehistoric sapiens, they were all huddling around and afraid of the darkness. One began pointing up and the others looked up and saw a bright comet streaking across the sky, dissipating the darkness. The sun cut through behind the comet as it turned around and headed back in the direction that it came from.

The Maximals emerged from the Ark, and looked around. They managed to see the sky again, and the Nemesis gone. "What in the seven spiral galaxies happened?" asked Rattrap. "I don't know, but it looks as if we might get our answer" said Optimus as he pointed to the comet coming towards them. It stopped and burst, releasing Soundblaster from it. "Soundblaster?" said Optimus as the Star Warrior nodded, then said "True, but perhaps you know me a lot better in this form" before he transformed into his Nighthawk mode. "Soundwave? That was you?" exclaimed Optimus in shock. A tentacle emerged then said_ "Yes, my real name is Soundblaster, but I prefer Soundwave. I happen to like my old name."_ "How…why…just what is going on?" shouted Rattrap. Soundwave sighed then said _"I came here to this planet by accident, and I began observing the war between both you and the Predacons. I eventually got involved with the Vok, and I became a messenger of them."_ "Well, that explains you, but that doesn't explain what happened to Dinobot" said Rattrap. _"He died fighting on the Nemesis. He died a true warrior in battle. Now, if you will excuse me, I have a timeline to fix"_ said Soundwave before he levitated up, and flew into the Ark. "What is he talking about?" said Rattrap, before he headed into the Ark with the other Maximals.

They found Soundwave standing before Megatron and opening him up. He had two sparks with him, and did a scan on them. He placed one inside of Megatron; the tyrant's optics glowed red for a moment before he fell back to sleep. Soundwave then stood up and walked over to Optimus Prime and stood before him, staring at the great Autobot leader.

"Soundwave, is something wrong?" asked Optimal Optimus as he approached the Star Warrior. Soundwave looked down at Optimus and said "I was just looking at this Optimus, Primal. I was just wondering if I would ever meet this one after I wake out of stasis in the Arctic." " 'Out of stasis in the arctic?' What do you mean by that?" asked Optimal Optimus. Soundwave then looked down at his pedes for a moment, then said "Remember how I told you that I came to this dimension by accident? I was telling the truth, but not the whole truth. I actually came here with my family, and I spent most of my time here searching for them. I managed to find my mate and most of my sparklings frozen in the Arctic, but I couldn't find my first-born sparkling. I searched the entire planet but…" as he took a silent pause, then resumed "…I have now come to terms that she has now offlined. She must have crashed into the ocean and drowned, which would explain why I couldn't find her. There is now no point of me remaining online now since the Beast Wars are over. Once all the Maximals have left this planet, I will join my family in the Arctic and wait with them until we all thaw out together." Optimus remained silent as Soundwave's words weighted heavy on him.

"It's done, all is as it should be…at last" said Optimus as he piloted a mini-spacecraft that the Maximals have found onboard the Ark. Soundwave was acting as their escort into space, then he turned around and headed for the Arctic. "Who knew that mountainback was all that he was?" said Rattrap as he watched Soundwave disappear from sight. "Yeah, he had protected the past, present, and future, and he was a Decepticon" said Cheetor. "May his spark rest in peace until he is needed again" said Optimal Optimus as he activated a trans-warp bridge to bring the Maximals into the future.

Soundwave was heading as fast as he could into the Arctic's atmosphere; flames burning on his protective spacecraft hull as he headed for re-entry. _"Hang on, Berserk. I'm coming"_ said Soundwave as he hit the ice. The ice melted around Soundwave, sinking the spacecraft into the frozen wasteland. _"Warning: sinking into artic ice. Systems malfunctioning. Heading into emergency stasis lock"_ read his systems before they blacked out; sending the Star Warrior into a frozen prison with his beloved family.

Thousands of miles away, a pair of optics have watched the night sky, the time storm, and the exploding Planet-Destroyer. "Ma ma! Ma ma!" cried a voice out into the night, where loneliness would be with it for the next few million years. Baby Ravage was still alive!

_Author's Note: Bet that you didn't see all of the plot twists in here, huh? For Tarantulus being alive (still,) I still have plans for him in a future story that needs to be written. As for Beast War's Megatron's spark, Soundwave let it die outside of a host/body._

_By the way, if anybody looks up The One on Transformers Wiki, and they look at the picture, does anybody else see the little lines/shapes in the middle of the spiral that sort of resembles Pokemon's Arceus if you use your imagination? If not, tell me what you see._

_Did anybody see Baby Ravage still being alive? For those of you wondering why she isn't frozen with her family, I have big plans for her in the G1 story. I'm also going to take a break from the Dimensional Warp stories, and finish some of the other ones (many of them, unpublished.)_


End file.
